Restaurant :
The Octopus, the resorts restaurant, specialises in and offers various sea-food ranging from lobsters and tiger prawns to octopus and shark; from barracuda puttu and sea urchins to baked crab and Japanese tuna salad. "Lobster Crème de la Mer (cream of the ocean), a creamy sauce with lobster, delicately spiced, is one of the specialities of Octopus." TOURISM INDIA, April 1999. Local dishes (vegetables and fish) too are prepared and can be savoured on plantain leaves. With the exception of jam, cream and pickles no preserved food is used in the resort. Fresh fish from the sea, vegetables and fruits grown in the resort garden are used to avoid pollution in food materials. Bread, cakes and ice creams are prepared here on a daily basis. The restaurant is semi-circular in shape and can seat upto a 40 people. The sea-sand flooring and the Kerala roof offer an out-of-this-world ambience. Each table has a granite pepper crusher specially made to order from Mahaballipuram. Dishes are homemade with no tastemakers added. And more than the presentation of food, Surya Samudra focuses on its essence."
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Accommodation:
Guests are accommodated, not in mere rooms or suites but a choice of modern or traditional houses, the former built of stone with soaring roofs...the others are traditional Kerala wooden residences, transplanted from their original sites. Whole tharawads (traditional Kerala houses) have been purchased and reassembled here as cottages. They have been converted into elevated structures, keeping in mind the need for free flow of space to facilitate unhindered movement and natural ventilation. Windows serve as doors while writing desks face the sea. Bathroom-cum-toilets or 'bath gardens' are open air, protected by the slopes on all sides and each house has an open-air cafeteria. "More than 100 years old, with intricate carvings and heavy shutters...these cottages have outdoor garden showers, wide verandas and, like all the accommodation, are surrounded by terraced tropical gardens. Bliss. Recommended: the Ibis or Myna rooms furnished with squatter chairs, bamboo beds and mind-blowing views of the ocean." Individual cottages or houses make up the resort, call bells at the door have been avoided since the sound is jarring and each terrace has a granite-topped table and stools cut from granite pillars.
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Location :
The resort complex falls under Trivandrum district and is 18 kms away from it, 22 kms from the airport. It is 5 kms away from the historic Vizhinjam (pronounced as Virinyam) harbour and 6 kms from Vizhinjam town. It is also 8 kms away from Kovalam. Air India operates international flights to Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkota (Calcutta). Indian Airlines and Jet Airways operate flights to connect these cities to smaller cities and towns like Trivandrum. Other international airlines: Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air, Sri Lankan Airlines, Silk Air, Qatar Airways and Oman Air. Alternatively, Indian railway services or the roads could be utilised to reach Trivandrum. Guests of Surya Samudra can be met at the railway station or the airport. Pulinkudi is well connected to Trivandrum and Vizhinjam as well as to Cape Comorin by bus. Taxis and reasonably priced cars with drivers too are available. Visitors of most nationalities to India, require a tourist visa, obtainable from the Indian diplomatic representatives. Kindly book your flights and stay, in time.
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