The Govt of Kerala estimates that
there are approximately 2.5 million migrant labourers in Kerala. It is unarguably true that this supports the labour base and thus the economy of
Kerala. Often they are referred to as a ‘system’ wthat handles the labour side of
the economy. Individuals are not important here, even names are not. ‘Bengali’,
‘Punnadan’, Assami, Hindiwala and Bhai in common, well..why should we care for more?
Rooba restaurant in Malaparamba
runs it show with an extremely talented ‘migrant labour’ chef. Munna is from
Bengal and he cooks everything from Nadan to Chinese. This is a typical fast food (where you get the
food fast) place which offers you dishes worthy in terms of cost and taste. This has been a regular eat-out place for us for
a long time when we used to live close to this place.
Here the chef and his kitchen greet
you before the receptionist does (cash counter in other terms). And at least
for us this adds to our food experience as Munna offers a warm smile as you walk
in. “Bahut Din Baad Aa Rahe Ho?” (Seeing you after so many days). This is Munna’s
regular welcome note for us. Two days before as we walked in he said “Mein Bhai
se Pooch Raha Tha ki Un ke friend to bahut din se dekha nahi” (I was asking
Brother (referring to me) that he did not see his friend (referring to Jinu)
for many days). He adds a smile to all the dishes he serves you. However,
we can’t assure you that he does this for all.
Rooba has offered us good food almost always we have dined there. The servings for almost all dishes here are
large. This place won’t create a hole in your pocket. However, they
serve pretty high in oil and masala. So it’s not suggested as a regular dining
out option.
We tried butter chicken
and porotta the other day, which was tasty but heavy in oil. We also had 'Nice Pattiri' for the little foodie (Nanma our eight month old toddler)
However, I should add that this
place usually does not disappoint us. You
got to be a bit wise in the choice of your dish and I am sure you will have a happy dine-out.
