Come Ramadan/Ramzan and the nights turn alive with lights, life, laughter and food. The place around the Kallayi bridge on M S Baburaj Road is truly a scene out of Arabia. A temporary food court called Willi Night Outs has been brightening up the night night life, serving food for those trooping in to break their fast and also to a lot of others who have been drawn to the ambience here.
Willi Night Outs was set up with the idea of catering to the Ramadan crowd. The tent is open from 5 pm to 3.30 am. The temporary food outlet is the brainwave of six youngsters of the place with architectural designers Muhammad Shaz Nelloli and K P Sabith taking the lead in shaping up the place. In fact, it was these young men who visualized the Arabian concept.
The outlet has been modelled after a Arabian deserts tent. A warm majlis (Arabic for gathering) beckons customers in. Pictures and images of the hookah hang out from the walls, strips of fabric material in different colours and lengths offer the much needed privacy between eating spaces. Warm toned lighting bathes the place in moonlight glow. There’s everything to remind one of warm and exotic Arabian nights. Except, it is in Kozhikode.
Five different stalls have been arranged to hold the food just as it’s done during food festivals. The quick-fix restaurant has wooden planks atop for roofs and on the sides.
Arabian ambience
Its tent-like structure is what sets apart the joint. The tent stands on long poles or pillars, drawn out wide and fastened strongly on the sides. The majlis are fixed here, customers can opt to squat on mat-covered floors for dining. Around 30 people can be seated at a time in both the majlis. This space is a meeting place for friends and families where a lot of love and back-slapping camaraderie are exchanged.
The lights hang out from car tyres wound up in jute. Shades cover cycle rims which hold the lights within. This emits a warm glow around. The temporary chairs and tables are all quaintly designed.
The space has been divided into five counters which serve diverse cuisine. The first one is exclusively for the traditional stuff like chappathy, kannuvecha pathiri, parotta and kunjipathal, with chicken chukka, chicken black, soyabean masala, beef masala, chicken pepper, beef pepper, egg macaroni mix, kunjan mutta, quail fry, chicken 65, spring chicken, egg masala, natholi fry, kadukka fry, manthal fry, kozhi nirachathu, meen pollichathu, chicken pokkuvada and muttakudal porichathu making up a native spread.
The second counter serves Arabian dishes. Al faham and tandoori are the specials. Spicy barbecue, garlic pheri pheri, ordinary barbecue, butter naan, butter roti and qaboos are the highlights.
It’s tea and snacks at the third counter. Willi tea, Willi saffron tea, suleimani, masala tea and normal tea are the five teas one gets to sip here. The snacks include chattipathiri, samosa, irachipathiri, cutlets and chicken roll.
It’s juice time at the fourth stall. Kulukii sherbeth and fresh juices are a hit. In addition, Boost, Horlicks, lemon-chilly and raw mango are favourites.
Its mango mania at the last stall. Sour mango pieces are given a masala mix.
Once the Ramadan fasting is over, the restaurant will open only by 3 pm. It will shut down only by 3 am. Facilities exist for home delivery and hosting parties.
Container concept
Looks like the container concept is catching and this tent in Kallayi is just a prelude to this fact. The boys will soon be coming up with a container restaurant. In about two months, the place may be treated to a brand new six-container restaurant.
A fresh new eatery, the Willingdon Container Restaurant is all set to open in Ramanattukara near the Sevamandiram School. Four containers are in the process of being turned into a restaurant there. In Kallayi, the designers plan to put up the containers on steel structures. This design when executed will provide parking space down below.
For details, contact: 9037360663, 9526766021
