The Cinnamon Route-Fine Dining (Thiruvananthapuram)

 I had been eyeing this place for quite some time especially when the macho man and I go for our walks or drives. We've literally watched this take shape from brick to this beautiful and gorgeous ambiance. We have even seen the man or perhaps the visionary behind this sitting alone doing his home work or research much before it transformed into what it is now. A bearded, good looking man with glasses!

In fact, much after it had opened, a friend had dined there with his family and updated me with pics and pricing. His experience was not a pretty picture but then again I always like to feel the pulse myself!

We were bidding adieu to our nephew who was starting his new life as an intern. Being the Uncle and Aunt that we are...we had so much to discuss with him and advise him as well.This was his first time away from his home. Sometimes we forget that kids these days do not need all that unsolicited advice. They are pretty much equipped with the sights and sounds from all the social media that they are plugged on.

 Nice spacious place with very meaningful paintings and wall hangings on the walls. The picture below had the Voyage of the traders and The Cinnamon Route drawn all over it. There was another wall which had all the leaves of the most prominent trees and plants seen in Kerala. I thought I had captured that...Lost in translation from phone camera to laptop I guess!!!

 The pricing was decent and so was the quantity.
But what will keep you on a high alert is the abysmal service!!!
The person who takes down the order would not be the one who would eventually serve you. Hence it was a disaster in the making.

Although we were in the midst of loads of family conversation, we could feel the orders making their way very slowly to our tables. The servers were all over the place but seemed neither efficiently trained nor apologetic. However, We were decently attended to but I did see some other family walk out; another family get angry when they were asked to shift table to accommodate a smaller family.

There's a lovely community table almost like being served in a prison canteen glaring and wanting to punch one another. If you are Ok with that, then being asked to shift to such a table makes sense but if you love privacy and don't want conversations to blend with others' like I do...then the community table is not your cup of tea. There are also the bar type of high chairs/stools but am not sure if families enjoy eating at such heights. I do understand they have screenings of cricket or football on occasions!

Finally the food that a certain family had ordered were not brought in promptly and they did walk out eventually after such a long wait. Although I do understand it is a fine dining place but there were myriad glitches in the service. This has to be nipped at its bud!!!

 At length, the kind and very well informed bearded man(a food aficionada for sure) ended up running up to the kitchen. Am really not sure if he was finally cooking and getting things organized and promptly delivered to the tables. Food did come down from the kitchen but the orders went to different tables!!! We never saw him again! It seemed chaotic as by-standers!

Little do these waiters coming from various backgrounds and other states realize that people like the bearded man have passions and dreams besides the money when they start such places and these untrained servers who do not feel their pulse are enough to squash such establishments and spoil their name and repute. I guess somebody has to get more assertive with them! I am usually not a mean person and am always with the underdog but in this case I felt terribly saddened by the confused scenario!

 Shirley Temple, Blue and a Mojito or two were ordered by our companions. They were such a treat to capture and they all arrived promptly!

 Taste was good too!

 We did order an Achari Gobi as I was the only vegetarian in their midst! It went with a few Phulkas!

Grilled Chicken Breast Pasta Combo

Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter

 The husband enjoyed those prawns! A special mention to that garlic butter!!!The entire meal that we had ordered was very tasty and quite pocket friendly too considering the prime area that it is located at almost like the Khader Nawaz Khan Road of Chennai in the capital of Kerala

In the midst of all that picture capturing. selfies and watching the family shout and leave...I did see our starter being served to another family. Little did we ourselves realize that we hadn't been served our starters and each of our main course was brought in first! Sigh! That shows that we as a family were having a nice time despite the odds!

A couple of other items on the menu too were placed. I did not get good pictures of that as we were all hungry by then. We did not order dessert as I had done a small farewell bake for the nephew.

Ambiance: Superb, very warm lighting and apt for friendly meet ups (not romantic to be precise or for coochie cooing!)
Location: Kuravankonam (near Kowdiar/Marapallam)
Food:Tasty
Type of Food: Check one of the pictures above
Service: ? Not sure if they have improved since our last visit
Concept: I respect the dream behind this and wish a great deal of success
Pricing: Pocket friendly Almost 350 per head
Ample car parking, if you don't get it in front of the restaurant then one can park on the main road alerting the security guards.

Would I go there again: Of course I will and will update it here with a before and after review keeping my fingers crossed that all those flaws have been rectified!