Wellington parotta
| Photo Credit: SATHYAMOORTHY M
Mount Road, Coonoor’s arterial road is abuzz with tourists arriving by the iconic Nilgiri Mountain Railway train. The road begins at the clock tower near the bus stand and winds its way up the hill that opens to sceneries shrouded in mist at Upper Coonoor. Along the way, the road also skirts a vegetable market that stocks fresh broccoli and zucchini sourced directly from farmers. On this road, right opposite the market, stands the 68-year-old Hotel Ramachandra that serves the famous Wellington parotta.
Garlic chicken
| Photo Credit:
SATHYAMOORTHY M
Inside, there is an air of vintage charm with black and white photographs gracing the walls. Within ten minutes, a plate of parotta and mutton salnaarrives. The large parotta is piping hot. I dip a piece in the gravy and put it in my mouth. My taste buds dance in bliss from the mutton mince stuffing coated in a layer of egg.
A view of Hotel Ramachandra in Coonoor
| Photo Credit:
SATHYAMOORTHY M
As we tuck into the parotta, which is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, we experience the taste of aromatic spices used in right measure. The finely minced mutton is velvety. “Hotel Ramachandra was started by my grandfather P Shankaran in 1957 on Onam day. From then on, the hotel has been drawing people with its nostalgic charm,” says Nikhil Suresh adding that back in the day, restaurants that served non-vegetarian food were called military hotels. When his father took over Ramachandra Military hotel in 1980s, he reinvented the menu by adding the name Wellington to parottas.
Chicken biryani
| Photo Credit:
SATHYAMOORTHY M
“Most of our patrons are from defence institutions like the Defence Services Staff College and the Madras Regimental Centre and the name clicked. It’s the pepper-spiced minced mutton that gives the dish an edge. We also throw in mashed green peas to the masala,” says Nikhil over plates of Ramachandra-style chicken biryani that is easy on the spices and the Dindigul-style fiery mutton biryani. The menu also features many varieties of parottas including Kerala parotta, Ceylon, egg and kothu parotta
Nikhil, along with his brother Nitin Suresh, now runs a group of hotels and restaurants in Coonoor. When they took charge of Ramachandra, they streamlined the operations with SOPs in place. “The focus was on quality and serving customers faster. We added Indo-Chinese and Chettinad fare to the menu with items like garlic chicken. Our old-style mutton puffs that are deep fried draws loyal customers,” explains Nikhil adding that over the years, they cut down the size of parottas by a few inches and the serving size of biryani. “We worked on cutting costs wherever possible and passed on the benefit to customers. We added non-vegetarian meals at ₹85.”
Tourists as well as the locals enjoy their meal
| Photo Credit:
SATHYAMOORTHY M
For alumni of Coonoor schools, a visit to the hotel is a homecoming of sorts. “Whenever there is a reunion, they come here to relive their memories over a plate of Wellington parotta. Many an old student has wondered how, as a student, it was possible to eat more than one at a sitting. Some recognise our staff as some of them have stayed with us for over six decades,” says Nikhil adding, “They are happy when they find that the parotta tastes as good as it did all those years ago.”
One of the old photographs of the hotel
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Hotel Ramachandra is located at 30, Mount Road, Kumaran Nagar, Coonoor. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A meal for two costs ₹400 approximately. For details, call 0423-2232353
Published – March 19, 2025 03:21 pm IST