If you are craving some good seafood, hitch a ride through the Alappuzha-Thanneermukkam road and a take a stop at Kayippuram, a tiny hamlet near Muhamma.
There is a hole-in-the-wall eatery there with a faded white name board saying 'Smitha Hotel'. But if you ask around, the narrow, dim-lit restaurant would be better recoginzed under the name 'Vaidyarude Kada'.
Run by 76-year-old Vijayathilakan, who is fondly called 'vaidyar' by the locals as a tribute to his background in homeopathy.
He has been running the hotel successfully for the last four decades. Delicious dishes prepared with pearl spot, cat fish, murrel, prawns and crabs are the speciality here. The lunch time rush to taste the fish preparation is incredible.
In the evenings, boiled cassava, porotta, chapathi, appam and dosa are served with fish delicacies.
Vijayathilakan claims that former ministers Thomas Isaac and P Thilothaman were regular visitors here. Vijayathilakan’s son Sanal too helps in running the hotel.
The hotel is located at Kayippuram in Thanneermukkam Panachayat, near Cherthala.
The meals cost Rs 50. You can have a side of a good sized portion of fish fry at Rs 100. The tuna fry served there costs just Rs 50.
