Pair Kerala spiced prawns with wine at Fort Kochi’s Francis, set in a 300-year-old Dutch house

We first stumbled upon Francis on a searingly bright day in Fort Kochi, after hours of gallery hopping. (Well, gallery and boutique hopping, if I am being totally honest.)

Thanks to the buzz created by the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which ran from December 2022 to April this year, Fort Kochi was chaotic with tourists. In this frenzy of over-hyped cafés, restaurants and bars, featuring overwhelmed staff, hour-long queues and flocks of selfie-taking influencers, Francis was an oasis of calm.

Despite being set in a 300-year-old Dutch building, rich in character, the sign outside, fashioned like a haiku, makes minimal promises: ‘Beer. Wine. Retro.’ 

As we settled down with chilled beers and a plate of their signature Kerala spiced prawns, accompanied by wedges of fluffy garlic bread, I promised my friends not to tell anyone about it. That was December. By April, Francis was packed: Kochi’s worst kept secret.

I return to explore the space with proprietor Francis Joseph, who is disarmingly modest about the bar, despite how quickly it became one of the city’s coolest hangouts with no publicity, drawing an engaging blend of artists, curators, travellers and locals through the months that the Biennale ran.

The bar features local favourites such as kandhari chicken wings and Kerala fried squid rings

Restoring the past

“It’s just nice, no?” he laughs, looking around the space, now filled with locals and regulars, with obvious fondness. His relaxed approach is evident in the few Christmas decorations still hanging from the ceiling, the raucous karaoke nights held every weekend, and his cheery camaraderie with the staff.

The bar is a significant achievement since it involved restoring a 300-year-old Dutch house. It is set on picturesque Quiero Street, a popular part of historic Fort Kochi, which draws international and domestic tourists for its scenic seaside views of the Chinese fishing nets and streets punctuated by Dutch, Portuguese and British colonial architecture.

Intriguingly, it is attached to Niyati boutique homestay, set in a 250-year-old restored Portuguese building, run by the same owner. “I grew up in the city, and fell in love with Kochi,” says Francis, leading me through the lobby of Niyati to explain how he bought and renovated the graceful old building in 2010. “We took two years for restoration work — I worked with local carpenters, all over 65, who did it all by hand, starting with the staircase.”

We climb the steep wooden stairs to access a charming private dining area perched at the top of the building, encased in glass windows that look out onto tiled sloping rooftops and well-fed cats. Though Niyati has just seven rooms in total, when an opportunity came to take a lease for the Dutch house next door, Francis says he took it so he could start serving Kerala breakfasts to his guests. “It was nothing much,” he shrugs, “But our food was brilliant — dosas, idlis, puttu…” 

Like many in Fort Kochi, Francis measures time in Biennales. He says he began running a restaurant in the Dutch building during the 2018 Biennale, pre-COVID. It was launched as a bar just in time for the 2022-23 edition. Perfect timing? “More like happenstance,” he laughs.

Sausages tossed with chilli, a bar favourite

Comfort food and music

The food at his eponymous bar features local favourites, from kandhari chicken wings to Kerala fried squid rings, with a focus on freshly sourced ingredients. It is packed by the time we settle down at a corner table — there is live music, and the performer has taken a deep dive into the hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s, much to the delight of the crowd. Before long, the regulars take over the microphone.

Over glasses of wine and the strains of ‘Hotel California’, Francis orders a bowl of his favourite sausages. “It’s just tossed with some chilli, but people love it,” he says. “I put it on the menu because it reminds me of my childhood.” There is more that will take you back a few decades — potato cheese balls, butter garlic mushrooms and fish fingers, all food from a less complicated time. 

Perhaps that is why this bar connects so effectively with people — and connects people — despite its modest proportions and low-key interiors. Francis is a vibe, and not just because of the centuries old building — it’s also a breezy, familiar patina of cold beer, rock music and old friends.

Francis is on Quiero Street, Fort Kochi. A meal for two is around ₹ 1,200