One food city that I truly love is Mangaluru, conveniently (and not so) they're also our neighbours! Fresh seafood, vibrant curries (that look hot, but are layered with flavour), rice everywhere (rice baby here) and oodles of ghee, what's not to love? I'll tell you what. A serious craving of the above and not being able to savour it that instant!
So when one of those days struck, I looked to Shetty's Coast To Table for comfort. Although this is a new service in town, there were many reasons to give them a go. For one, it's not another multicuisine, commercialised-to-death spot that I'd have to unwillingly order from, rather it's home cooked, mum-like ahara. Plus, the solace of a Mangi surname and social media buzz sealed the deal.
Sumanth the Founder, shares that these are all his mum's recipes that have been perfected through trial and error. He has also worked with the OG Shetty Lunch Home family (touted to be the ones who invented the ghee roast among other classics) and sources all ingredients from Kundapur.
The menu has four staples. I ordered the Prawn Ghee Roast, Kundapur Chicken Curry and Neer Dosa, Kori Rotti and Coconut Milk Rice as accompaniments. The ghee roast was spot on, fragrant and rich with warming notes of chilli. I lapped it all up in what would seem like a few minutes with that soft neer dosa. In all, it felt like I was back in Mangaluru without having to move an inch.