Crab, Squid, And Seer: This New Restaurant Brings The Bounties Of The Coast To Church Street

There’s something seriously fulfilling about Mangalorean food, especially when it’s done right. And from prawn sukka to kori roti, The Konkan does coastal cuisine justice.

Reflecting old Bangalore, The Konkan, is modelled like a colonial dining room, with minimal decor, bright and essential lighting, proper tables and chairs, with a few of them overlooking the bustling St Mark’s Road. We settled into a table for four, despite being just two as when it comes to Konkan food, our appetite knows no bounds.

The menu is divided into different types of seafood, each with the various masalas, versions and methods of cooking. From squid and lobster to prawn and crab, there’s really everything from the sea available here. What is great about this restaurant is that they don’t serve frozen fish. So pay attention to the little whiteboard which will list out the fresh catch of the day. We had seer, prawn, crab, lady fish, squid and pomfret {yaaas!}.

Unable to pick, we found solace in the seafood platter that brought us prawn fry masala, butter garlic crab, pomfret in the chef’s special masala and rava fried lady fish.The prawns, though small, were delicious, and the lady fish crunchy. The crab was the table favourite though — meaty, and the batter has soaked in the garlic and butter perfectly, to add a mild flavour. We also enjoyed the pomfret in the chef’s spicy and tangy semi-gravy. In fact, it would have been perfect to have with steaming rice, but alas we missed that combination. Wash this down with either a chilled kokum juice or a  very refreshing sol kadi which was one of the best in town.

Mains comprised seer fish Mangalore curry with kori roti — a match made in heaven. But the curry wasn’t as fulfilling as we’d expected. Unfortunately, the Chicken Ghee Roast too was a tad underwhelming. It was spicy and ghee-laden, for sure, but didn’t hit the spot as it should have. 

Make sure you leave room for their signature dessert — Ragi Manni. A contemporary version of a traditional ragi dessert, this one shaped like caramel custard. Not too sweet as it’s made with jaggery, but with that hint of coconut adding flavour to the ragi, it hit all the right spots, with nostalgia on the top!

Service is a bit slow still {but hey, they’re very new!}. And while there were some misses, most of the food was a hit. We can’t wait to go back for neer dosa, sannas and lobster next time.