Yesterday we met some friends for a picnic lunch in Fremont, so we picked up some food from Madhuram. I was intrigued by some of the Keralan/Malabar specialities on the menu. We placed order on the phone for pickup.
Masala Dosa – Large, flavorful filling, and remained relatively crispy even after 20-30 mins of transport. Sambar was excellent – lots of curry leaves, on the thinner side and with noticeable bits of dal. Chutneys were also great – coconut chutney tasted fresh and homemade.
Chicken (and Egg) Kothu Parotta – Sort of like fried rice, except instead of rice it’s bits of torn up parotta. Low level of spice, also lots of spices, and very good.
Shrimp Masala - I wanted to order kannava (squid) masala, but they didn’t have squid, so I got shrimp instead. This dish included several plump shrimp in a fairly large container of tomato/onion curry mixture. This reminded me of similar Burmese shrimp or fish cake curries. Very good.
Idiyappam - I wanted to order regular appam, but they aren’t making them currently. Ordered a side of idiyappam instead, which is basically just rice noodles. They didn’t hold any shape particularly, so this was nearly indistinguishable from a container of boiled rice noodles. But it was good for soaking up the curry.
Prices were very reasonable, and it looks like a nice place for indoor dining once that’s back again.
Located in the same strip mall as a Malaysian place (Layang Layang Express) and a Halal Chinese place (Li Zhou Chinese), this little adventure made me think I need to be visiting Fremont more often!
Pretty sure I ate there in the before times, wasn’t overly impressed. Not great not bad. I also liked the looks of the menu. However it was also late in the evening and things were shutting down, so I resolved to give them a second try — good to year they’re still afoot.
I was checking out the menu that it seems like the Ocean section has the Keralan goodies. I’d try the fish pollichathu in a heart beat. I haven’t seen too many Keralan restaurants around here. The last one I ate at was years ago in Sunnyvale. And I had the fish jpollichathu as well.
@bbulkow Perhaps this is one of those restaurants that serve all the popular Indian dishes but does only their regional dishes well?
From the Ocean
Malabar Fish Curry $12.99
Fish cooked in red chili paste and coconut
Madhuram Fish Curry $12.99
Homemade boneless fish curry
Madhuram Fish Thoran $12.99
Shredded fish cooked with coconut flakes and curry leaves
Madhuram Fish Fry $14.99
Whole fish marinated traditionally and pan fried
Shrimp Masala $13.99
Whole Shrimp sautéed with black pepper and curry leaves
Fish Pollichathu with Kappa $14.99
Fish marinated with spices, wrapped in banana leaf and baked
