Onam feasting begins this week with several restaurants in your city offering lavish spreads of olan, erissery and a variety of payasams. Here are nine places to choose from:
Spoilt for choice
Savya Rasa, which serves canteen-style South Indian food, has come up with quite a spread for its Onasadya. Available for takeaway and as dine-in, the feast includes over 30 traditional dishes, including signatures such as kootu curry, kalan, olan, thoran, erissery, palada pradhaman, and more. The feasting ideally begins with the ritual of offering the Onam Sadya items to Lord Ganesha first. The meal starts on a spicy note with rasam and ends on a sweet one with payasam. At Savya Rasa, Chennai, Pune and Delhi till 8 September
Simply South
Like every year, Zambar is putting together an eclectic meal this Onam, available for dine-in and home delivery. You need to book in advance for meals to be delivered piping hot to your doorstep, complete with the condiments and a pristine green banana leaf. Having savoured Zambar’s Onsadya in the past, one can highly recommend their beetroot pachadi, avial, kachiyathu and erissery. At Zambar, Delhi NCR, between 7-9 September
In honour of Mahabali
Mahabelly is back with its Onam spread for lunch and dinner at its Saket restaurant only. You can book your time slot for the meal on the restaurant’s page. The selection includes sharkara peratti, inji curry, avial, apple kichadi, ulli theeyal, mango pulissery, pacha moru, and more. The flavours are as authentic as it can get. At Mahabelly Saket between 7-9 September
An offbeat menu
Looking for something unconventional? Every year, Nair On Fire offers an Unsadya menu for Onam which includes non-vegetarian options. Sadya is popular as a vegetarian meal, but sub-regional cuisines of Kerela have non-vegetarian dishes too. At Nair on Fire, Mumbai, between 8-11 September
Mani’s Lunch Home
The landmark restaurant, Mani's Lunch Home, in Chembur has reserved a separate venue for Onam. While the dine-in experience will be on first-come-first-serve basis, book home deliveries in advance.
At Mani’s Lunch Home, Mumbai, between 8-11 September.
Bring home a feast
If you wish to indulge from the comfort of your home, opt for this lavish spread of Avial, rasam, pulissery and more from St. Regis Mumbai. The festive feast is delivered home by Marriott Bonvoy On Wheels. Call on 91 86575 22956 t- 02261628422/02261628000; 7-8 September.
A lavish affair
For an exclusive 5-star experience, head to iconic The Konkan Café at President, Mumbai-IHCL SeleQtion. Apart from a menu featuring essentials like olan, kalan and pachadi, they have drawn inspiration for single courtyard houses in Kerela, called as Nallu Kettu, for the ambience. For reservations, call on 022 6665 0808; 8 September.
Feasting and gifting
Onam is one of the grandest menus at Kappa Chakka Kandhari, and they go all out. They prepare four types of payasam that can be ordered separately, a festive meal in a box of 26 items for five persons and dine-ins as well. At Kappa Chakka Kandhari in Koramangala, Bengaluru and Nungambakkam in Chennai from 6-8 September.
A taste of home
Home-style cooking is at the forefront in this menu with Bengaluru-based home chef Sumi Somanathan collaborating with Gaurav Ramakrishnan, head chef at Hyatt Centric. The recipes belong to Somanathan’s family and this meal promises to be an experience fit for a king. At The Bengaluru Brasserie, Hyatt Centric MG Road Bengaluru on 8 September.