Gecko Cafe - Mamallapuram

Sitting on the second floor, table right at the balcony edge. Watching the relaxed, evening street life while a gentle sea breeze chases the heat of the day away. A gecko scurries across the wall. Softly played Tamil pop music flows like ocean waves. In the moment, the cold, harsh Canadian winter feels like it belongs on another planet. Gecko is similar to a few other relaxed, touristy restaurants on Othavadai street offering good meals at reasonable prices. The staff are customer friendly, but were a little slow on the night we were there. Lots of options on the menu. Since this is a fishing town, catch-of-the-day is the highlight and options are brought to the table on a platter. The recommended preparation and spices are explained for each fish. The restaurant caters to foreign tourists and tone down the spices accordingly. I requested medium heat. The staff apologized when I suggested they forgot to add the spices. Oh… sorry! We gave you ‘foreigner-medium’, not ‘Indian-medium’. So, if you like it spicy, make sure they understand! My wife had chicken sizzler. She found there were too many bones, but otherwise tasty.

You eat very well and with a choice of fish that depends on the day. are to try the vegetables that are prepared with great attention. sauteed rice is one of the best we have tried in many years, excellent quality of departure, perfect cooking and preparation without smearing in spices.

Nice and cozy restaurant, easy on the first floor. Made meals with love.

Small location (they're rebuilding after moving spaces), but clean, very attentive and engaged staff, and great food. The spicing on the thokku was one of the best dishes I've had in India (over ~10 weeks of travel and a range of high end places); excellent lassi as well (large amounts of fruit, very fresh). Good prices for a great meal - definitely recommend. Well located too.

Every dish was excellent. If you love seafood this is definitely worth checking out. The ginger prawns were my favorite and one of my favorite meals on my trip to Tamil Nadu. The brothers are lovely and was a joy to eat their food!