Passions of Kerala – Delicious Banana Leaf Rice Set

My first Banana Leaf meal with a difference was at Passions of Kerala Restaurant in Brown Garden, Gelugor.

The outlet was full of people from the factories and around the Gelugor area.

The people from town had to travel a bit of distance to make it there and back during lunch.

Here, I discovered the tempting taste of spices at Passions of Kerala Restaurant.

When the iconic landmark in the heart of George Town opened, the owners decided to open the Passions of Kerala Restaurant @New World Park.

Passions of Kerala is a gem serving tasty South Indian cuisine Penangites love.

My first meal there was with my contractors. In my opinion, the construction boys are the best food hunters.

What kind of cuisine?

The Passions of Kerala Banana Leaf Restaurant is every curry lover’s paradise.

The Kitchen, helmed by a Chinese chef, offers various dishes, from meats to seafood delicacies.

The cuisine emphasizes taste, aroma, and colors, using numerous spices found in the kitchens of Kerala.

Spices like black pepper, cardamom pods, cloves, turmeric powder, cinnamon sticks, ginger, mustard seeds, and chili peppers flavor the creamy dishes cooked with a generous amount of santan (coconut cream) and served with rice.

Overall, the restaurant serves good Indian cuisine in the Kerala style, power-packed with spicy and sour flavors.

Passions of Kerala – A Banana Leaf Restaurant

The menu at the New World Park restaurant includes a banana leaf rice set served with an assortment of vegetable dishes.

You can customize and add popular Masala Chicken curries, fried chicken, fish, squid, Crab Masala, and Mutton Varavul.

Other restaurants serve their banana leaf meal with three side dishes, a mountain of rice, and two pieces of papadam.

Banana Leaf Set RM11.00 (White Rice)

Passions of Kerala Restaurant does it better. Their Banana Leaf Set has three types of vegetables, one pickle, and four curries (vegetarian, dhal, chicken, and fish).

You get not one, not two, but a basket of the large-sized Papadam.

I eat out at several Indian restaurants, and there is a difference in the type of Papadam.

Not all Papadam are created equal, and not all are fried nicely.

These are thin, crispy, crunchy, and not oily or salty.

The crispy papadums made an ideal snack to kick off any meal.

The vegetarian banana leaf rice set came with refillable assortments of four dishes and papadum. The sourish Lime Acar makes the meal delicious.

White Rice, Briyani, or Tomato Rice?

A banana leaf meal is a carb overload.

There is no other way around it when it comes to curries.

One, you need a lot of rice.

Two, you need to eat with your hand.

You can choose White Rice, Briyani, or Tomato Rice for your banana leaf rice meal.

Of course, for Dory, the obvious choice is always to choose a Friday to head out for meals.

Lisa preferred eating white rice; she says she gets to taste the curries better.

Dory will go for the Banana Leaf Set Tomato Rice RM12.00

At another restaurant, the choice is Mint Rice.

My all-time favorite is the Tamarind Peanut Rice, which I can’t find in Penang restaurants.

Passions of Kerala Restaurant Curries

If you are concerned about the spiciness, don’t worry; the curries are thick and robustly flavored without burning from hot peppers.

Each mouthful of rice has a balanced, well-rounded taste, with plenty of kick but without breaking a sweat.

There’s no need to gulp ice-cold water to put the fire in your mouth.

Passions of Kerala Menu

Lisa is good with the orders; I tend to get greedy and often go overboard.

I am afflicted with an eye bigger than stomach syndrome.

There is no cure to this most pleasant ailment.

So, today, we discussed.

Lisa: Dory, there are only 2 of us, okay.

Dory: One. Two. <looks around and asks, “Why?>

Lisa: We ordered Fried Bitter Ground small, one serving of Fried Black Pomfret, and one serving of Masala Chicken.

Dory: Why???

Lisa: Because Panjang and Abby are not here to help us eat,

Dory: One Fish or one serving of fish?

Lisa: Adui. You eat 5/6, and I eat 1/6, and you still want to dispute about the fish?

Dory brightens up. I’ll take videos and photos.

Fried Black Pomfret RM8.00

I know the restaurant gets fresh fish, even though I’m not too fond of eating fish.

I will order a fried black pomfret because it is so well done.

The fish is lightly marinated but without a fishy smell.

The Black Pomfret had crispy skin, juicy, burning, hot, white firm fish meat, and outstanding natural flavor and freshness.

Many places tend to over-fry the fish because it is hard and dry.

The frying skill at Passions of Kerala Restaurant is top-notch, as the fish wasn’t oily and moist.

Best of all, we got the tail end.

Lisa cleans off the crispy fin and tail.

Dory thinks of Lisa using the fishbone as a Flintstone comb.

I must be too hungry at this point.

Gulps!

Fried Squid RM8.00

We would have ordered Fried Squid if we had Panjang and Abby.

Passions of Kerala Restaurant make their Fried Squid minus a heavy marinade to taste the squid’s freshness.

Fried Bitter Gourd Chips RM4.00 (small)

The best seller is the tasty deep-fried bitter gourd coated in spices.

Three serving sizes depend on how much you want to eat.

Most people shy away from eating the humble bitter gourd.

The restaurant makes it crispy, not bitter, delicious, and addictive.

Mutton Varuval RM15.00 (small)

We couldn’t order since Panjang and Abby weren’t with us.

I spied other tables. Yes, there is a delicious plateful of Mutton Masala in a spicy gravy consisting of masala spices and creamy santan (coconut milk).

I remember this dish well; it had a mutton taste and juicy, tender chunks of meat.

A good balance of spiciness, too.

It’s tasty, slightly broken up, and eaten like pulled meat on a Papadam.

Phenomenal taste

The thick gravy dish was full of flavor and spices.

One site engineer taught me to save the mutton this way.

Chicken Masala RM8.00

Everyone’s favorite Chicken Curry.

The chicken masala was a reddish curry with chicken pieces cooked in rich, spicy masala gravy.

Perfectly spiced but not spicy, the Chicken Masala is the best gravy with rice.

Mango Lassi RM6.50

Lisa ordered the Mango Lassi, which isn’t overly sweet, just lovely.

The refreshing lassi is creamy and flavorful.

You can choose Mango, Kiwi, a plain sweet lassi, or sour lassi.

Bru Coffee RM3.00

Dory needed to wake me up after all that rice.

Tastiest Payasam @Passions of Kerala Restaurant Payasam

The best day to eat at Passions of Kerala Restaurant is Friday when you savor Payasam.

Payasam Is the Queen of South Indian sweet treats, and the pudding is the tastiest.

Also known as Vermicelli Kheer, it is made with sugar, ghee, milk, cashew nuts, raisins, sago, gram, smooth vermicelli, and star anise aroma.

The color and some of the ingredients of this dessert are comparable to Badam Milk.

I swear by it – so warm, delicious, creamy, and not sweet.

Luckily, Miss Lisa wanted hers, or else I would have added more inches to my girth!

Top Tip: A free Payasam with every banana leaf meal ordered (on Fridays)

Passions of Kerala Restaurant Review

I have always visited the restaurant hungry and shamelessly walloped everything in sight (minus bones, banana leaves, and bowls).

Truth be told.

First things first, Lisa and I took turns washing our hands – Ready to dig in our delicious banana leaf rice set.

We ate with our hands, and there is no better way to enjoy an incredible banana leaf meal.

Cutlery gets in the way and slows things down to a grinding halt.

Does Smartdory Eat For Free?

This question inevitably arises when some people try to get up close and become inquisitive.

Some say, “So you get FREE food and write a good review?” – you guys are jokers.

Thanks for the laughs.

Passions of Kerala Restaurant Food Price

Our bill came up to about RM53.60 for two pax. Which Lisa and I shared.

A family of four could eat that food for takeaway, no problem.

The portions are generous.

We ordered Crabs during the lockdown, look at the portions.

My first meal at the Brown Garden outlet was in 1997, long before I heard of blogging.

Over the years, the restaurant has maintained its consistency in taste and fast-friendly service.

That’s not the end of the story.

As it was raining heavily, Lisa, goaded by Dory, went to Swatow Lane Ais Kacang to continue round two.

We ordered Rojak and Ang Tau Sng shared, of course.

I managed to drive home and got into a food coma later on. 😛

Verdict: I like the fantastic curries at Passions of Kerala Restaurant. Heads up, order the Crab Curry (RM40.00) if there are fresh crabs that day.

And remember to order the Fried Black Pomfret!

Price: Depends on your add-on dishes.

Top Tips: Go early, by noon, as the restaurant gets crowded at lunchtime.

Cons: Since Passions of Kerala Restaurant’s motto is never to stinge on ingredients, sometimes customers may complain that the curries are too thick! And delicious.

Passions of Kerala Restaurant @ New World Park
102-C-3, New World Park,
102, Jalan Burma, 10300 Penang.
Tel: 04 227 2550
Hours: Noon till 3.00 PM; 6.30 PM till 11.00 PM Daily

Google: https://g.co/kgs/8D5dJh6

Blog Disclosure: This is a NOT sponsored blog post. All opinions are mine. The writer and friends paid for their meal.