Mahesh Lunch Home – Sea Food in Bangalore

Any Bangalore trip brings back to me, the best memories of staying there, at the very start of my professional career.
A rookie life then, could be best described by the odd food expeditions we used to undertake then. One such weekend food adventure made me taste something we never tasted before on the eastern side of the country – Fish Rava Fry!
We got so much fascinated by it, that years later, when we had settled in Kolkata, in one such Honuman adda, we prepared our version of it.
Want to taste the magic at your home? See the recipe link at the end of this post.

But then this journey is not about what we had tasted years back.
Its about the gastronomic experience we had, couple of days back, in one of the well-known sea-food specialty restaurants in the country,
Mahesh Lunch Home.

the starting point

Bangalore is not the city of origin for this joint. The first restaurant came up in then Bombay in 1977, bringing in the concept of Mangalorean food cooked home style with a bar. The focus has been “fresh sea-food“. Over the years, my source of this joint was initially news articles followed by the internet guides. This place is now expanded to Bangalore, Pune and Dubai as well. Since I have been reading about this place for sometime now, finally the chance came upon to visit their Bangalore outlet in Residency Road just opposite Bangalore Club.

so what’s this place like

Housed in the two floors of a building named Cears Plaza, right on the main road, we were greeted and then offered to seat in the 2nd floor.
The little nuances like serving water was immediately taken care off. Such things tend to drive the point that the place and it’s people are attentive. It was not a huge place but decently spaced out to have comfortable time. Though I thought it was bit under-lit, probably to build the ambience.

now menu is here & what to order

We had made up our mind about having prawns – so we ordered couple of plates of Mangalorean Prawns Sukka and Prawns Koliwada for starters.

The highlight of Prawns Sukka (meaning dry) was definitely the quality of the jumbo prawns – fresh and succulent, it was a match made in heaven with the coconut base, complimented with the hint of curry leaves. The curry leaf taste was not overdone which made the prawns carry the flavor of Mangalorean spices in itself. Spicy yes, but not too hot. Taste? – Awesome!

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In contrast, Prawns Koliwada reminded me the taste of good old “peyanji” (onion fritters) but with prawns inside it. While I liked it, my other colleagues found it pale compared to the best dish they already had above. To me, this will be a perfect companion to a glass of whiskey on a rainy day.

Interesting thing is the name “Koliwada” sounds bit Maharashtrian, so was wondering if this was a fusion of the worlds. An internet search tells me that this originated from a fisherman’s village named Sion Koliwada near Mumbai settled with North Indian immigrants.

moving to mains

We were pretty full with the starters itself but we had Chicken Ghee Roast in our minds. This is an another signature Mangalorean dish, much heard off and so we ordered Appam and Lacha Paratha with go with this.

So how best can I describe this? Red hot, full of ghee roasted spices with succulent pieces of chicken in it. And yes, the taste and after-taste of ghee, not over the top but a nice lingering feel. While we had this with both appam and lachha paratha, I will recommend to try with Appam. One plate will suffice for 2-3 people, if supplemented with other dishes.

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pocket pinch

time for feedback

Let’s forget the pocket pinch for a while.
Taste-wise, this was pretty nice, specially the Prawns Sukka.
Quantity served in a dish was also sufficient.
Staff response was prompt. So I was happy with the experience.
Now considering the pocket pinch and though it’s bit on the higher side, I will still recommend this place to anyone, willing to experiment true-blue Mangalorean cuisine.

Here is the link to Mahesh Lunch Home’s website for the interested: http://www.maheshlunchhome.com/

Have you dined here? What’s your experience?
Let us know here in comments below or in Facebook or Instagram.

And I will be back soon with more stories on travel, food or say, anything!
Bye.

P.S: Try this recipe of Konkani Rava Fry at your home – https://honumanshongothon.com/2017/09/01/konkani-rawa-fish-fry-recipe