It is easy to picture Tara and Amrit walking through a street, stopping in front of a restaurant and climbing up a set of stairs. Perched over a menu, they’d order a few main dishes, and later desserts. You imagine them tasting the first bites and then describing exactly what it tasted like.
Or else it could be a living room table with dishes laid on it, and two chairs pulled up for the couple. With spoons, forks, chopsticks or bare hands, Tara and Amrit give an honest review of all that they savour. A couple doing video reviews of restaurants in Thiruvananthapuram, and putting up their verdict on a Facebook page called Couch Potatoes – it has got to be a first, at least in Kerala.
“I’d say it is the result of a failed weight loss journey,” says Amrit, surprised that someone has called him for an interview. Tara joins in on a conference call. The two are in Delhi for a short trip now. They do reviews of Delhi restaurants too and other places they visit – Chennai, Kochi etc. But it is mostly Thiruvananthapuram that they focus on – the place where they are based.
Preview of the food review of Nasi and Mee, Kochi
“We gained a lot of weight after our wedding in 2017,” Tara continues the story that Amrit began. “Imagine about 30 to 40 kg a person. We had to lose it all and went on a crazy diet but we’d have one day a week to cheat.”
They could barely help it when they smelled the al-faham chicken on the Vellayambalam – Kowdiar stretch which is full of restaurants. After losing about 20 to 25 kg each, they took the advice of their friends and began seriously reviewing the restaurants they visited.
“I really like to investigate my food. We’d find out what is the best dish in every restaurant and then talk a lot about it to our friends. That’s how they suggested the food reviews,” Tara says.
Their friends also came up with a name for the couple – Couch Potatoes. “Because whenever friends come from elsewhere to explore Kerala, we’d make them sit in our living room couches and order food online. They began calling us Couch Potatoes,” Tara laughs.
The two also run a podcast called Inside a Potato. This includes film reviews and as Amrit puts it, everything they want to vent about. The videos are newer and the Couch Potatoes page was launched to put them up in April 2019.
“Yes, it’s only been four months and about 20 videos, some just being uploaded,” says Tara, who is enrolling as a lawyer soon. Amrit is a freelance writer.
Here is a list of a few ‘best’ items in Thiruvananthapuram that the couple recommends:
Best Mutton Biriyani – Ajwa restaurant
Best Kothu Porotta – Salwa Dine
Best Chicken Perattu – Narayana Bhavan
Best Ghee Porotta – Kings Restaurant
Best Sadya (Kerala meals) – Mother’s Plaza
Best Achayan’s sadya – Edaneram (only on Sundays)
Best Beef + Chukkappam – Vazhathoppil or Café Green