Mischa Tropp, the chef who briefly turned Fitzroy’s Rochester Hotel into a south Indian restaurant, is nearly ready to open the doors to his first venue. A contemporary spin on the taverns of Kerala in southern India, it’s serving dosas, cocktails and drinking food until late at prices designed for regular visits.

Toddy Shop by Marthanden Hotel is a homage to both Tropp’s non-Anglicised family name (Marthanden) and the many “toddy shops” dotted around Kerala. Named for the fermented coconut juice from toddy palms that patrons drink there, these modest rural eateries have become better known for their food.

“Every time I go to Kerala I seek these places out,” says Tropp. “If I could eat this food all the time I would. But we just don’t have access to that here.”

He’ll be addressing that gap in Melbourne with his short and sharp menu at the 20-seat venue, previously home to Mono XO, which is in the midst of becoming a brightly coloured, acid-washed space.

There are no snacks or entrees, and no desserts because Tropp wanted to create a casual, in-and-out venue for people where dinner might be as much as $40.

“I think people are a little bit sick of spending $120 every time they leave the house,” he says.

Pork fry – a dish of crisp, caramelised pork pieces with fried onion and coconut – will be offered along with prawn moilee, a rich coconut and turmeric dish. Tropp’s famed fish nadan from his Rochester Hotel days, a sour and spicy red-hued curry, is guaranteed in the starting line-up.

“It’s exactly the same recipe, I’m just slightly better at cooking now,” laughs Tropp.

Dosas are the other focus of the menu. They’re not a traditional drinking food but a passion of Tropp’s that he’s been mastering for the past two years at various pop-ups. His pancakes of fermented rice and lentil batter are fried in ghee to achieve crunchy-fluffy balance, and served with masala sauce, peanut chutney and a carrot-coconut salad.

Refreshing cocktails, such as gin-spiked nimbu pani (Indian lemonade) and crisp lagers – including a Sri Lankan-owned Melbourne beer, Two Rupees – have been chosen to handle the spice.

Later night hours and mid-week lunches are planned but, regardless, the speakers will be pumping tunes from Tropp’s vinyl collection, covering Indian dance music and more, from next week.

Rear 191A Smith Street, Fitzroy (enter via Charles Street), marthandenhotel.com

Open from Dec 1 Wed-Fri 5pm-11pm, Sat-Sun noon-11pm