Chatti by Regi Mathew
South Indian restaurant · Midtown West ·
Spicy Kerala cuisine, cocktails, seafood, and toddy shop inspired tapas
Spicy Kerala cuisine, cocktails, seafood, and toddy shop inspired tapas
"Located near Penn Station, Chatti is Regi Matthew’s elegant introduction to Kerala toddy-shop cuisine outside India: the extensive “touchings” menu functions like Indian tapas—beef fry, coconut prawns, jackfruit cutlets, pan-fried pomfret with gooseberry masala—and I loved a steaming bowl of seafood moilee soup served with feather-light appams; Matthew researched more than 100 toddy shops and sourced some 800 recipes, and the result is best enjoyed with a big group so you can work through dozens of options." - Sarah Khan
"Inspired by the toddy shops of Kerala, Chatti is a good Midtown option for a grazing dinner, particularly before a show. Though the glossy bar and clubby back room are a far cry from Kerala’s backwater shacks, where you drink rapidly fermenting palm sap toddy out of tumblers, Chatti’s “touchings” menu does come close in spirit to the snacky dishes you get with that toddy. Their Malabar mutton and various crunchy cutlets are musts, and the toddy shop beef fry and Calicut mussels pair perfectly with a cold beer." - molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim, neha talreja, carina finn koeppicus, sonal shah
"Call it the Semma effect. You can now get a good sampling of coastal South Indian food in Manhattan at places like Kanyakumari and Lungi, which adds on Sri Lankan food, too. But we’ve been waiting for an NYC restaurant to do proper justice to the cuisine of Kerala—specifically to the state’s toddy shops, where you sit at a plastic table, drink tumblers of rapidly fermenting palm sap toddy out of tumblers, and eat masala-crusted fish, or chunks of beef sauteed with peppercorns, fried curry leaves, coconut, and shredded shallots. photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Pause Unmute Chatti in Midtown isn't quite that place, but it comes closest in spirit with its “touchings” menu: two dozen tapas-style dishes neatly pictured on placemats for the uninitiated. Their Malabar mutton and various crunchy cutlets are musts, and their toddy shop beef fry and Calicut mussels pair perfectly with a cold beer. Chatti’s mains, though good, are a little expensive for the portion size. We’d sooner send you here for a drinks-and-snacks dinner rather than a three-course meal. The clubby back room can get loud, so sit up front if your needs are quieter. photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah Pause Unmute The food might follow the toddy shop model, but the 37th Street restaurant is far from a backwater shack. An ornamental blue shell is whipped off your plate, and replaced with a tamarind amuse bouche. The walls are made of glass bricks, and the bar is stocked with whiskey rather than actual palm toddy (we can dream). Their sambhar vodka cocktail is pretty good though—it has all the complexity of the South Indian dish, just in clarified form and poured over clear ice. It tastes a little like a spicy marg. Food Rundown BDF An essential order off the Touchings menu. Fried to a crisp, dark brown, these juicy strips of spice-coated Beef Dry Fry are ideal with a cold beer. The Toddy Shop Beef Fry and Beef & Green Peppercorns are great too, and we also love the Malabar Mutton. Breadfruit Fry The snack menu is definitely meat heavy, but there's plenty for vegetarians too, like these cubes of dry-fried breadfruit. photo credit: Sonal Shah Clay Pot Fish Curry One of the more unique dishes here, this fish curry is cooked with kadampuli—a dried, sour fruit—left overnight so the flavors can deepen, and served cool. Pair it with fluffy boiled tapioca mash. photo credit: Sonal Shah Duck Mappas Coconut and coriander meld perfectly in this duck curry. All the curries here are spiced to perfection, though the portion of meat can feel a bit small for the price. Still, there's plenty of gravy to mop up with some appams. photo credit: Sonal Shah Pearl Spot Parcel If you're with a bigger group or need a heartier dinner, spring for one of the seafood specialties, like this pearl spot in a marinade of shallots and tamarind, neatly grilled in a banana leaf. PlayMute video credit: Sonal Shah Desserts Chatti does some fun desserts, like a coconut cloud Pudding, and these coconut pancakes served with a densely creamy purple taro ice cream. They're not essential, but we end up ordering a couple every visit. photo credit: Sonal Shah" - Sonal Shah
"While several Manhattan restaurants have drawn from India’s coastal cuisines—Lungi, Kanyakumari, Semma—Chatti is the first to explicitly refer to the toddy shop culture of the southern state of Kerala. The restaurant is less backwaters shack and more Midtown glam, but the “touchings” section of the menu features drinking snacks like beef fry, and duck mappas, and they’ll have plenty of regional bread and rice dishes too—from coin porotta to steamed puttu. As far as we know, they won’t have actual palm toddy (which doesn't have much of a shelf-life), but will be mixing cocktails inspired by the region." - will hartman, bryan kim
"Chatti is a South Indian restaurant inspired by Kerala's toddy cafes, offering an upscale dining experience with a focus on authentic Kerala cuisine. The menu features a variety of dishes meant to be eaten by hand, larger soups, seafood options, curries, and traditional South Indian bread and rice. The restaurant also offers unique South Indian takes on classic drinks. The 3,500-square-foot space aims to evoke the warm, communal spirit of a Kerala toddy shop." - Nadia Chaudhury
