KOCHI: They have conquered the most prestigious residential area in the city — Panampilly Nagar. Now, it’s the highway that’s on their radar. With an increasing number of food joints flanking the National Highway 47 Edappally bypass, foodies no longer have to rush to the city to enjoy a good meal at a first class restaurant. For the highway is now on your plate.
In the past one year alone a number of restaurants and food joints have opened in the Edappally bypass region where you get authentic Indian, American, Mexican and Chinese cuisines.
The growth of Kochi as a major metro has attracted a lot of floating population into its midst and now it has reached a stage where the city is bursting at the seams. The major problem being traffic congestion, experts say that the only solution to this is to develop the outskirts. And hoteliers seem to be doing just that in a bid to attract the suburban population. With the Oberon Mall and the Gold Souk flanking the highway attracting a huge crowd from different parts of the district, the eateries in the nearby areas have also benefited. Chak De and Lokah on the highway, Chopstix and the Domino’s outlet in Palarivattom are some of the newly opened restaurants in the area that are doing brisk business. The opening of the KFC outlet in the Gold Souk, the Baskin Robins outlet in Palarivattom and a few in the Kakkanad route have added to the brand value as well as the land value of this locale.
“Since major eateries have come up in this part of the city, the land prices have drastically shot up to the scale of up to 20 to 30 percent,” said Radhakrishnan, a realtor.
Foresight is what made most restaurant owners bet their prices on the areas surrounding the highway and the bet seems to have paid off. Talking about starting a business away from the maddening rush in the city where there is a greater possibility of attracting customers, Abhishek Nair of Lokah explains that in the coming years a lot of business will be centered around the highway. Accessibility, along with the availability of a lot of free space, is one of the primary reasons for Abhishek choosing the location for his restaurant. His target audience are the highway crowd who commute to work through the highway and want to grab a quick bite.
Adwaith Anup of Chak De says that the bypass has become like the ring road of Bangalore and it is frequented by those travelling on the Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram routes. A place away from the city rush is what he too wanted.
The group who has greatly benefited due to this are those working in the IT firms in Kakkanad. “The heart of the city is slowly moving from MG Road to the bypass and its surrounding areas. For most get togethers now we prefer one of the restaurants in this part of the city. And because most of these restaurants are new, the food is great,” said Maria George, an IT professional in Kakkanad.
Restaurants mushrooming in these parts of the city are indeed a blessing for those who live in the nearby areas. “Earlier we had only one option on the highway — the Highway Garden. For anything else we had to go to the city. But now just enter the Oberon Mall and there are many eateries there,” said Sheela Pillai, a homemaker. She too feels that it is the mall that has brought more business to this part of the city.
keerthimohan@expressbuzz.com