Make A Trip To The Smokey Naga In Koramangala For Its Pork Specials, Thalis & Fiery Chutneys

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Smokey Naga in Koramangala is the newest eatery for Naga cuisine. Expect wholesome thalis, pork specials and plenty of interesting and nouvelle flavours.

Chow Down

Pork Thali, Smoked Pork with bamboo shoot, Mashed Potato with dry fish 

Sip On

Rice beer or Zutho

Winning For

If you love food with plenty of heat and nouvelle flavours, then this menu is for you, you adventurous eater. 

Lowdown On The Ambience

Located just one floor below other favourite Naga restaurant — Zingron, Smokey Naga has simple, sturdy seating. On the walls, you can spot some water colours of the Naga way of life, and some magnificent spears and their colourful warrior paraphernalia. The place is strictly functional, and we found the floors a bit in need of cleaning. But to be honest, it was a rainy Saturday when we went. 

What's On The Menu?

Stay away from the Chinese section of the menu, and instead focus all your energy on the Naga portions. These guys have all kinds of starters such as beef and pork chilli, even momos, and a big section on fish, poultry and pork, all to be paired with bamboo shoot, akhuni {fermented soya bean}, anishi {fermented leaves of the yam plant} and yam. They also do good value for money thalis. We picked a pork and a fish thali to start off, then ordered a side of mashed potatoes with dry fish, and pork with anishi.

The thali is good way to get introduced to Naga cuisine if you aren’t too familiar with it. It usually comes with steamed rice, a big bowl of steamed veggies like beans, carrots and cabbage, a dal, a small portion of pork chilli, a bowl of smoked pork with bamboo shoot, and a tiny bowl of the fiery king chilli chutney. The fish thali comes with a fried and dry katla fish served with spicy onions, plus the same vegetables and dal as the pork thali.

We first started with the mashed potato that came dotted with green chillies, a hint of mustard oil and of course, the dry fish. The starch had soaked up all the pungent flavours beautifully. Then we moved on to the watery daal which was flavoured with the north eastern equivalent of the Sichuan pepper corn, which came with lovely floral as well as a peppery aftertaste and left a part of our tongues tingling. Then we moved on to the dry pork chilli, which was fiery thanks to the king chillies, but was so good. We took breaks between eating and spooning in the bland boiled vegetables to cut all that spice down. The smoked pork was excellent, and we ended up ordering one more bowl of it. The pork was not overcooked in masala and was just flavoured with ginger, king chillies and fresh bamboo shoot. We found the pork with anishi too thick with spices, and didn’t care too much for it. The fish thali had similar flavours, and the katla was fresh and spicy too. These guys only offer basic ice cream like vanilla or chocolate, so if you are looking for something sweet to give your tongue some relief, then these are the only choices. 

What's For Drinks?

Of course, you have to try the potent rice beer or Zutho, which was served to us chilled in tall glasses and tasted fermented, sweet, starchy and all kinds of wonderful. 

So, We're Saying...

The thalis are reasonably priced here {between INR 200-299 plus no GST} with the amount of meat on them. Being fans of Naga food, we are going back again to try their many kinds of interesting chutneys {with mustard leaves, dry crab and what not} and their meat dishes. 

Smokey Naga, restaurant, 62, 1st Main, 7th Block, Koramangala

Contact: 080 48658077

Find them on Facebook here

#LBBTip

We hear Smokey Naga is getting on Swiggy from next month.