Kerala

I'd call it brawn. Head-cheese sounds the least appetizing translation for fromage a la tete, evoking smegma, hog's hair and foamy cheese from a can. I am both drawn and repulsed. I'm sure I'll give in eventually.

Thanks for posting. The restaurant is not producing pure Chettinad food. It's fairly honest about this. If you were in Chettinad and you went to a restaurant you wouldn't expect pure Chettinad food either. The menu looks tempting. If it tastes good and you like the staff, my top priority would be to work my way down the whole list. Feeling quite homesick looking at that menu... For authenticity: yes to heat, yes to pepper, yes to coconut.

Never been to the place myself, but looking at the website I can see both David's and Jenni's comments being true. They are quite open about not being stuck on tradition. I would prefer a place that tries to do the traditional cuisine to the very best standards rather than try to amuse my palate or surprise me- in Keralan food only. As close to my mother's cooking as possible... David, I know you get to Nottingham once in a while. Why not try Kayal? Service is OK, but the food is authentic and very good. Expect the chef to leave you alone!

Yeah, after years of snobbishness I have had to accept that actually at the moment it offers a more interesting range than the other supermarkets. Still love Waitrose, but I wonder if I'm letting them coast on past glories. Don't know how they make a profit on some of the stuff- fresh octopus and squid sold in a store smack bang in the middle of a (white)inner city. And at least their canned fish section isn't the usual wall of tuna.