Paragon and Restaurant Chef Pillai: Kerala cuisine meets diverse customers in Bengaluru

Bengaluru boasts not only of a diverse population but also a diverse range of restaurants that serve cuisines from across the country and the world. Whether one is craving piping hot dosas with generous dollops of ghee or Hyderabadi biryani that is bursting with flavour, Bengaluru has them all. Similarly, there are a large number of Kerala restaurants in the city to cater to the ever growing Malayali population. Much to the delight of Malayalis in the city, two big names in the Kerala culinary scene – Restaurant Chef Pillai and Paragon Restaurant – set up shop in Bengaluru recently. In conversation with the founders of both restaurants, TNM learnt that Malayalis and non-Malayalis are patrons of the restaurants.

Suresh Pillai, who heads the Restaurant Chef Pillai, says that when he opened his first restaurant in Bengaluru in 2021, 90% of his customers were Malayalis. He says, “After six months, we started getting more Kannadiga, Tamil, and Telugu customers. Now I have two restaurants in Bengaluru and close to 50% of our customers are a mix of north Indians, Tamil, Kannadiga, and Telugu people.”

A man of humble beginnings, Suresh worked as a waiter in restaurants after Class 12 before becoming one of the most well-known chefs from Kerala. After working in Bengaluru for eight years as a cook and a chef, Suresh moved to England, appeared in Masterchef BBC, and worked as a guest chef in the University of Bahamas. After his travels, he returned to India and opened his first restaurant in Bengaluru’s Whitefield.

At the core of it, Restaurant Chef Pillai is a Kerala restaurant with a modern twist. The restaurant would be a delight for both Kerala cuisine purists and those with an adventurous streak, as it serves cuisines like netholi porichathu and chemmeen varuval, as well as pazham pori chaat and palada cheesecake.

Suresh attributes debuting in Bengaluru to his eight years’ work experience in the city. He says, “I was more confident in opening a restaurant here than in Kerala. Bengaluru is more diverse and the people here like trying new cuisines. I understood the market here because of my eight year work experience.”

Meanwhile, Sumesh Govind, the managing director of Paragon Restaurant, a restaurant chain from Kerala, has different reasons for setting up shop in Bengaluru. He says, “For most Malayalis, Bengaluru was a ‘dream city’. I know families who would come for a holiday here! Ever since I was in my teens, I had been fascinated by Bengaluru, so it became a dream to open a restaurant here.”

Founded in 1939, Paragon Restaurant is famous for its traditional Malabar-style cuisine, especially biryani and seafood delicacies. The restaurant has branches across India and the United Arab Emirates. In June this year, Paragon Restaurant was ranked 11th in the 150 most legendary restaurants in the world. Ranked by Taste Atlas, an online travel guide for traditional food, the website of the travel guide noted how Paragon’s biryani reigns supreme.

Like Suresh, Sumesh too was confident of Paragon’s success in Bengaluru but for different reasons. He says, “Paragon is one of the largest restaurants in Dubai and is well-known across India as well. I think there is an awareness about Paragon’s brand all over India, so it felt like we were taking only a minor risk by opening a branch here.” Sumesh points out that being featured in Travel Atlas increased the restaurant’s popularity and helped with earning customers across branches of their restaurant, including Bengaluru.

While Suresh did not make drastic changes to the menu of his restaurants in Bengaluru and in Kerala, Paragon made minor additions. Sumesh says, “We have another brand called M Grill that serves Arabic dishes. I decided to add some dishes from there to Paragon in Bengaluru. Apart from traditional Kerala cuisine, we wanted to make this branch more of a multi cuisine restaurant. The main reason is because regular customers keep asking what is new in the restaurant and we don’t want to disappoint them!”

Both the restaurants with roots in Kerala have been attracting a diverse range of customers in the city. Sumesh says that there are even a few Japanese customers who frequent his restaurant. He says, “Our aim is to go beyond our regular clientele of Malayalis and serve everyone. It fills my heart with joy when young customers come and tell me that they enjoyed the food in our Bengaluru restaurant. It makes it seem like all our efforts and risks taken to open this branch were worth it!”