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A new place to hang out

Hotel Surguru has opened a swanky restaurant in Pondicherry

Opposite an old landmark, the VOC Government School for Boys on Mission Street, there is something refreshingly new. At the end of the short passageway is a small garden with granite benches. This is part of the new vegetarian restaurant of Hotel Surguru, which is a nice place to hang out with friends. The old Health Department office has been remodelled to house this swanky restaurant. The cool interiors with diffused lighting makes it a perfect eating out option. The steel chairs with cane backs and tables that have newspaper motifs add to the stylish ambience. The menu includes South Indian, Tandoori, chaat and continental dishes. You can choose from combinations such as roti and palak paneer or roti and dal fry. Though the restaurant is operational, work is still going on in the first floor for a meeting hall that can seat 80 people. Also, coming up is a 100 sq. ft. collage on one of the walls.

"Of late, Mission Street has turned into a bustling, commercial area with stores such as Casablanca and Nilgiris. So we chose this location. The menu in the new restaurant will be similar to that in our main restaurant but there are more snacks and chaat items in the evenings. We also have special vegetable bondas and vadas. With this restaurant, we wanted to break away from our old image and get trendy," says K. Amarnath, vice-president of the hotel.

Jeyasandra Babou and Mythilli J Babou, architects from Vybogam, who have designed the restaurant, say, "The owners wanted to give it a vibrant and different look. They also wanted it to be a place where people could come and relax."

"A small old building has been converted into a kitchen. We have used the space outside the kitchen by putting up a sheet for a roof and have used an insulation barrier and air-conditioned it with non-conventional and exposed duct. All this gives it a Bistro effect," they say. Krishnamurthy, the hotel's managing director, started Surguru, the parent hotel at the Ajantha theatre signal in 1990, at a time when there were not many good hotels in Pondicherry. "We realised the need for it and got into the business. We believe in providing quality food at affordable prices," says Amarnath.

DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN

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