While I am familiar and open to most popular cuisines outside India, I cannot say that for the diverse cuisines across India. Coastal Karnataka cuisine, more specifically Mangalorean cuisine is something I have always been skeptical to try, primarily with the strong usage of dry coconut.
Recently when I visited Sea Rock, which specializes in the Coastal cuisine, with a bunch of foodies, I was excited yet sceptical at the same time.
Thankfully the restaurant offers North Indian and Indian Chinese, so I started off with a very meaty crab soup - Chinese style.
The soup was a great start to a great meal, with very strong crab flavours finding its dominance with the sweet corn. The result was an absolutely fabulous seafood soup with some amazing flavours with a mild pepper punch.
For appetisers, my fellow foodie from Coastal Karnataka, not just helped me decide what to try, but also shared a bit of history and the ingredients that go into the dish, focusing on the star of the show - the seafood.
The King Fish/Surmai Tawa Fry was a beautiful large slice of fresh fish, perfectly marinated with strong South Indian flavours. I loved every bit of this well-cooked fish.
Next came the steaming hot plate of Squid Chilly, a speciality here. While I am not a big fan of squids, these beautifully fresh Squid Rings in a Chinese stir-fry have compelled me to think otherwise. The squids were fresh, well-cooked and seasoned and I loved them.
Next came a delicious fresh serving of Pomfret Masala, smothered with strong coastal masala atop a well-grilled whole pomfret. It was slightly less desirable for me, as the strong coastal flavours with dry coconut are something am not a big fan of but I was able to carve out the flaky fish underneath the masala and devoured it by carefully avoiding the bones.
Something very authentic to Karnataka is the Ghee Roast. It is a popular Bunt Tuluva Mangalorean recipe that's origin goes back to a small town, Kundapur, close to Mangalore. Ghee Roast is a fiery red, tangy and spicy dish with the flavours of ghee roasted spices, with a choice to add meat.
We had two variations - Mushroom and Prawn Ghee Roast. The prawn version was beautiful, perfectly cooked meat on the strong coastal flavours with a tad bit strength of dry coconut. Again, I am not big on the strong dry coconut flavour, but the ghee made all the difference to this wonderful dish. The prawn version was a tad bit salty, which made it less desirable. The mushroom version was perfect, no complaints, strong ghee/clarified butter with coastal masala was just perfect.
The Bangda Fish and Kane Fish Rawa Fry were perfectly presented with strong flavours of the sea, masked in the sooji/rawa. Next up were mussels, well-presented and delicious. The authentic Marvai Sukka was again, well-cooked and tasted really good. The mussels cooked in a coconut heavy dry masala were one of my favourites.
Too heavy with all these appetisers, we wished to skip directly to desserts, but were requested to try the most popular, Pulimunchi, Neer Dosa, and Kotte Idli.
Neer Dosa with prawn pulimunchi was delicious and had the right amount of spices. This paper-thin dosa went beautifully with the spicy and tangy prawn pulimunchi, a Mangalorean speciality, made with kokum.
The Kotte idli was good and it blended well with the Mangalorean sambhar.
One of the surprise elements, however, was the Palak Kichidi, it was by far the best I've had in many many years. It took me back to my days in Mumbai, I will visit them again and again just for this top-notch dish. You too should definitely try it.
For the final course, we had Ragi Manni or Finger Millet Pudding, a traditional, healthy dessert that is India’s answer to the Italian Panna Cotta. Its origin could be traced to the diverse cuisines of Karnataka.
{Sea Rock Bangalore} I hear is one of the oldest restaurants serving Coastal Karnataka cuisine in Bangalore successfully. The service was very honest, homely, and perfect.
Recently when I visited Sea Rock, which specializes in the Coastal cuisine, with a bunch of foodies, I was excited yet sceptical at the same time.
Thankfully the restaurant offers North Indian and Indian Chinese, so I started off with a very meaty crab soup - Chinese style.
The soup was a great start to a great meal, with very strong crab flavours finding its dominance with the sweet corn. The result was an absolutely fabulous seafood soup with some amazing flavours with a mild pepper punch.
For appetisers, my fellow foodie from Coastal Karnataka, not just helped me decide what to try, but also shared a bit of history and the ingredients that go into the dish, focusing on the star of the show - the seafood.
The King Fish/Surmai Tawa Fry was a beautiful large slice of fresh fish, perfectly marinated with strong South Indian flavours. I loved every bit of this well-cooked fish.
Next came the steaming hot plate of Squid Chilly, a speciality here. While I am not a big fan of squids, these beautifully fresh Squid Rings in a Chinese stir-fry have compelled me to think otherwise. The squids were fresh, well-cooked and seasoned and I loved them.
Next came a delicious fresh serving of Pomfret Masala, smothered with strong coastal masala atop a well-grilled whole pomfret. It was slightly less desirable for me, as the strong coastal flavours with dry coconut are something am not a big fan of but I was able to carve out the flaky fish underneath the masala and devoured it by carefully avoiding the bones.
Something very authentic to Karnataka is the Ghee Roast. It is a popular Bunt Tuluva Mangalorean recipe that's origin goes back to a small town, Kundapur, close to Mangalore. Ghee Roast is a fiery red, tangy and spicy dish with the flavours of ghee roasted spices, with a choice to add meat.
We had two variations - Mushroom and Prawn Ghee Roast. The prawn version was beautiful, perfectly cooked meat on the strong coastal flavours with a tad bit strength of dry coconut. Again, I am not big on the strong dry coconut flavour, but the ghee made all the difference to this wonderful dish. The prawn version was a tad bit salty, which made it less desirable. The mushroom version was perfect, no complaints, strong ghee/clarified butter with coastal masala was just perfect.
The Bangda Fish and Kane Fish Rawa Fry were perfectly presented with strong flavours of the sea, masked in the sooji/rawa. Next up were mussels, well-presented and delicious. The authentic Marvai Sukka was again, well-cooked and tasted really good. The mussels cooked in a coconut heavy dry masala were one of my favourites.
Too heavy with all these appetisers, we wished to skip directly to desserts, but were requested to try the most popular, Pulimunchi, Neer Dosa, and Kotte Idli.
Neer Dosa with prawn pulimunchi was delicious and had the right amount of spices. This paper-thin dosa went beautifully with the spicy and tangy prawn pulimunchi, a Mangalorean speciality, made with kokum.
The Kotte idli was good and it blended well with the Mangalorean sambhar.
One of the surprise elements, however, was the Palak Kichidi, it was by far the best I've had in many many years. It took me back to my days in Mumbai, I will visit them again and again just for this top-notch dish. You too should definitely try it.
For the final course, we had Ragi Manni or Finger Millet Pudding, a traditional, healthy dessert that is India’s answer to the Italian Panna Cotta. Its origin could be traced to the diverse cuisines of Karnataka.
{Sea Rock Bangalore} I hear is one of the oldest restaurants serving Coastal Karnataka cuisine in Bangalore successfully. The service was very honest, homely, and perfect.
