This 87-year-old Kerala lunch spot has barely changed its menu since 1938

At Hotel Shylaja in Pala, a meal that once cost a quarter anna is still served much the same way it was nearly nine decades ago.

"I've heard my father say a meal used to cost a quarter anna back then. Now it costs eighty rupees."

That single sentence captures the remarkable story of Hotel Shylaja, a modest lunch spot in Mutholy near Pala that has been feeding generations for 87 years.

The eatery is the first stop in Served Since, Onmanorama Food & Travel's new series exploring Kerala's oldest eateries and the people who have kept them alive through changing times.

A lunch tradition that began in 1938
Hotel Shylaja was established in 1113 Kollavarsham (1938) by the grandfather of the current owner, Shiji P J. Today, the restaurant is run by the third generation of the same family.

Unlike most restaurants that constantly reinvent themselves, Hotel Shylaja has stayed remarkably consistent. The menu has changed very little since its early days, making it one of Kerala's rare surviving lunch homes where tradition still dictates the day's offerings.

The hotel itself owes its name to Shiji's eldest sister, Shylaja.

A family recipe, handed down by observation
The family's cooking tradition has been passed down not through written recipes, but through observation.

Shiji's grandfather started the hotel, while his father trained under Pandalam Thirumeni, a renowned caterer of the time. It was there that he mastered the techniques that would shape Hotel Shylaja's kitchen for decades to come.

"My father learned cooking from Pandalam Thirumeni," says Shiji. "We learned by simply watching our father cook."

Some skills, however, belonged only to the older generation.

"My father could judge whether the sambar had enough salt just by smelling it. We never learned that trick."

The same meal, nearly nine decades later
Today, a meal at Hotel Shylaja costs ₹80. When the restaurant first opened, it cost just a quarter anna.

Despite the passage of time, the lunch served here remains almost identical to what customers ate decades ago.

A traditional meal includes steaming rice served with thoran, koottu curry, sambar, moru curry, rasam, pappadam, chammanthi, pickle and chilled sambharam.

The pickle is still prepared fresh by the family.

The only non-vegetarian item on the menu is an omelette. Regulars often pair their meals with a double omelette, one of the few additions made over the years.

There is no breakfast service. No evening snacks. No dinner. Lunch is all that Hotel Shylaja serves, between noon and 3.30 p.m.

A house that became a hotel
Hotel Shylaja is as much about its building as it is about its food.

The restaurant operates from a traditional Kerala wooden house where the family continues to live. The wooden walls, shuttered windows and sloping tiled roof have all been carefully maintained while preserving the building's original character.

Above the entrance sits the beautifully carved wooden 'mukhappu'—the decorative triangular gable commonly seen in traditional Kerala architecture. Carved into it is the date 1113.01.21 in the Kollavarsham calendar, marking the building's origins.

It is a quiet reminder that while generations have changed, some places continue to serve exactly what they always have.

And perhaps that's why Hotel Shylaja has remained a favourite for 87 years, not because it has changed with the times, but because it hasn't.