Tharavadu Multi-Cuisine Restaurant | Casino Hotel — Restaurant in Kerala

Tharavadu is the in‑house multi‑cuisine buffet restaurant at Casino Hotel (CGH Earth). It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a mix of Indian (including Kerala), Asian, Continental and other global cuisines. On special occasions (weekends or themed nights) there’s live music, possibly a magician, and more elaborate spreads.

Here are the strengths that many reviewers mention:

Variety and Authenticity The buffet offers a good mix: vegetarian + non‑vegetarian, local Kerala dishes, as well as Chinese/Continental/other options. The Kerala dishes are frequently praised for authenticity. Seafood, etc. get positive mentions.

Quality & Taste Many diners find the food tasty, well‑prepared, flavoursome. Certain dishes are frequently described as “standouts” such as grilled fish, seafood, pork preparations, and traditional curries.

Service and Staff The staff are generally described as attentive, courteous, helpful. Names like “Anu”, “Georgy”, “Abin”, “Rahana” come up in reviews as giving good service. Wait staff respond to requests, clear plates, etc.

Ambience The restaurant is seen as pleasant, comfortable, with good décor. On weekends or special evenings there is extra atmosphere (live music, family‑friendly environment).

Desserts and Extras Desserts get good feedback; people enjoy the dessert section. Some say extras like a magician or special touches on festivities further enhance the experience.

What Could Be Improved / Common Complaints No restaurant is perfect. Here are typical drawbacks people point out:

Buffet Spread Size vs Expectations The spread to be a bit limited compared to “other fine buffet” restaurants. While quality is good, quantity or variety sometimes lags.

Service Inconsistency Slow service in certain cases, or lack of attention in busy times. Also, occasional mix‑ups (bookings, table allocation, etc.) are reported.

Some Dishes Not Up to Mark for example, certain breads/rotis (porotta, tandoor roti) being sub-par; sometimes the vegetarian options are less varied or less interesting.

Ambience / Seating Location Depending on where you are seated, the view, the light, or general vibe may differ. Good tables (near windows or with nicer views) are more desirable, but those are sometimes booked already or not assigned.

My Assessment: Who It’s Good For

Tharavadu works best if you: Want a buffet meal with variety, especially including local Kerala cuisine, while staying in a hotel that offers comfort.

Are celebrating something (weekend, family dinner) and want ambience, music, some extra touches.

Don’t mind paying a bit more for quality, service, and location.

Appreciate decent dessert options, and like having vegetarian + non‑veg choices.

It might be less ideal if: You are very price conscious and want the maximum variety for every rupee.

You prefer ultra‑highly curated gourmet buffets with exotic cuisines.

You dislike buffets (crowds, wait times) or want extremely fast service.

Tips to Make the Most of the Experience To get the best out of Tharavadu, you might try:

Go on weekends / special nights when the spread is more elaborate and ambience is better.

Book ahead and request good table location (window view, etc.) to avoid being seated in less desirable spots.

Check for offers/discounts (via Swiggy Dineout, Easydiner or direct) which often help with the cost.

Ask about specials – eg. themed nights, live music or extra items – they sometimes have special themes which make the experience richer.

Try their local Kerala specialties – when they are well done, they are often the highlight.

Verdict

Overall, Tharavadu is a strong choice in Kochi for buffet dining if you want a mix of local and international, good food quality, pleasant ambience, and reliable service. It might not be the cheapest buffet or the broadest variety, but in many reviews people say what it has, it...

Vegetarians beware! What a fall from grace in terms of service and standards. A place I've gone to since a child. I remember this exceptional response in the year 1999 of them having incorrectly billed our table 2 dishes from some other table. When we pointed this error while paying the bill, they were so apologetic that the manager came to the table and requested us to visit again, so that could have another chance to ensure that everything was perfect. As a token of their regret, all that we had then was on the house and the money we placed returned promptly; not even a tip. I remember everything else, the food and service, as being exceptional that day and this waiver of the full bill for the error was going beyond requirement. Never had I thought or heard of any place doing something like this - and the group of 6 that we were had dined well! We were all left with respect for how they responded. I used to tell this story to anyone who'd be considering visiting Kochi and asked us about the best of restaurants and hotels to go to. More than 20 years later (and many happy visits later) I visited the place as a family of 12 to celebrate my wife's and brother's birthdays - both one day after the other. My brother's mom in law is strictly vegetarian and we started with the soup. The veg soup said tomato and all of us who took non-veg soup felt that there isn't any non-veg in it and tasted the same like any plain tomato soup. And my brother's mom-in-law said the soup and some pieces smelt strange. I went and tasted the veg soup and realized that it had non-veg pieces: told the staff that the boards were mixed up and a strict vegetarian in my group had ended up having non-veg thanks to this. They disagreed. I insisted that they check and so they took 2 bowls of the soup marked as veg inside, towards the kitchen. In less than a minute, the server who took the bowl inside came out swiftly and changed the boards between the 2 soups - and his response after that took the cake. There was no acknowedgement of the error or an apology; at least a thank you for ensuring other vegetarian guests weren't troubled? When I asked whether there was a mix-up, he had the gumption to say there was nothing wrong! I remember being stunned at this response and it took a few seconds for me ask why the board was changed then - and the server said it was always at the same place and never changed 😳🙄 Anyway, how we managed my brother's upset mother-in-law is a family matter. And after that, whenever casino hotels is mentioned amongst people we know, this is a story all of us share. What they did in 1999 was unheard of those days. While service expectations have increased such that the response of 1999 is par for the course for such an incident now. Sad state of what was once such an...

Giving 3 stars only for service, but food here is below average. We booked a lunch buffet here - the menu didn't have even a single kerala cuisine item despite the name of the restaurant being Tharavadu. Also the menu comprised of mostly north Indian dishes which didn't even go well with breads / rice's available. It was a collection of different food items from different parts of the world that doesn't go together.

Only the starters and soup were good. The cut fruits and salads section was below average. There wasn't many choices to be made. Cut fruits only had some watermelon and musk melon.

Dessert section had almost nothing when compared to similar 5 star restaurants in Kochi.

There was pickled vegetables available but it really didn't taste good, as the taste of vinegar overpowered the taste of fruit- trust me you will get far better version of these in the streets of kochi.

There wasn't any icecream section and when asked they served vanilla icecream on our table which was the only option available. The main course menu had an Chicken Alfahm Mandhi - but the chicken was neither Alfahm nor the rice was not Mandhi. Rice was biriyani rice - which doesn't even had Mandhi masala and the chicken was just plain dry grilled chicken.

Apart from the food , the staffs were very friendly and courteous , we had a b'day celebration they arranged for a pastry and played a birthday song and we had a baby with us and when asked for a feeding room they cleaned and opened a hotel room for us for breast feeding.

Overall ,If you doesn't care about the food and you only care about the service ,then this place is for you. They have a huge pedigree in this industry in Kochi and hence the best service. Not sure if it's the Covid situation ,the kitchen is NOT upto...