Malabar Musings

‘Samco’ is a rather unique name; most visitors to the restaurant presume that it has anglicized origins. Nothing could be further from the truth. Samco was the brainchild of three friends – Soopy, Aboobacker and Mohammed. That’s right – the first letters of each of their names was used to form ‘SAM & Co’, back in 1962. Though the restaurant had humble beginnings, starting out as not much more than a small tea kadai (tea shop),  has since been revamped twice, each new avatar fancier than the other but in essence, its menu offerings remain the same. The addition of Indo-Chinese dishes to the menu hasn’t taken the focus away from the real crowd pullers – the delectable biriyani dishes and the savoury parathas, payas and Malabar style curries. This is the place where film producers and directors would discuss their scripts and where auto drivers would silently talk to their parotas – the eternal love affair iconic star Kamal Hassan has with Samco dates back to its days of inception.