Exploring the Cuisine of Coastal Karnataka | Maravanthe | Bangalore
Though I have lived in Karnataka for the last 16 years, I have not travelled across the state except for the usual tourist destinations. When a friend recently brought up the name Maravanthe, I was curious about the place and was surprised that there is a lot to know about this coastal town, its culture and cuisine.
Maravanthe is a town located in the South Canara district of Karnataka about 450 kms from Bangalore but very close to Kundapur. The town has a scenic beach named after the town and is considered to be one of the more beautiful beaches in South India. Whats special about this area is that it is flanked by the ocean on one side and a river (Sauparnika) on the other side. The beach though quite popular destination among the tourists is still quite untouched hence it supposed to a paradise of sorts for those who crave a quiet peaceful getaway. The cuisine here is an additional reason to visit this little town I hear as their seafood preparations are their specialities.
Though the town and its beach sounds like a must visit destination, I settled for trying out their cuisine at a new restaurant in our city named Maravanthe. The restaurant located in close proximity to the Indira Nagar Metro station is the brainchild of two young entrepreneurs who wanted to showcase their coastal cuisine to the ever growing cosmopolitan crowd of food loving Bangaloreans.
My mom and I visited Maravanthe on a weekday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to find it crowded with office goers. The restaurant decor is simple and quite in line with the village decor with more focus on serving coastal delicacies of Southern Karnataka. After a brief glance through their menu, we started the meal with a tall glass of Kokum juice which is a speciality there. While we waited for our beverage to arrive I did notice that in addition to the seafood specialities from Mangalore they even had Punjabi offerings.
As a Keralite, I know the difficulties of getting fresh seafood in Bangalore and more importantly at prices which don’t pinch the pocket. I knew that my meal here would be only to taste the best they had to offer and had only seafood on my mind and so we began with a piping hot Crab meat soup. Normally I would have to search for Crab meat in my soup but there was loads of crab meat in this soup here to my fascination.
For appetizers, we began with a personal favourite – Prawns Ghee Roast and I must say I was not disappointed. The prawns were well coated with a blend of spices with bits of cashews soaked in ghee.
My mom loves mussels so on the recommendation of our attendant we decided to try their Mussels Sukka fry which is basically grated coconut preparation mixed with their spices and tossed with mussels. The quantity served for each of their appetizers is for two to three people and at that pricing it was definitely value for money. The Sukka is also available for crab, mussels, prawn, chicken and mutton.
On the insistence of our attendant, we also tried two of their best Fish dishes. First was their Silver Fish coated with Rava and fried. While some may feel this dish is a bit bland, the taste is quite original as that is how it is meant to be crunchy and delicious.
The second dish was Bale Yele Masala which literally translates to Fish in Banana leaf which is quite common in Kerala too. But the difference lies completely in the marination of coriander, mint and green chillies. This dish brought tears to my eyes for 2 reasons – I loved it though it was quite spicy to put it mildly. A must have if you can tolerate spicy food.
For our main course, my mom decided to try the dish which seemed to be the most sought after in the restaurant which was the Maravanthe Fish Meals. The meals at first glance seems to look a bit less for someone who is deciding to have a quick lunch of it but as you delve into the meal you realize that its a perfect Mangalorean meal starting with the neer dosa and fish curry, rava fish fry, rice and sambhar along with a dry vegetable, dried prawn chutney and papad. No doubt, the best choice for office goers who want grab a quick meal but a sumptous one!
I decided to stick to trying their Kundapura Chicken Curry and Pulimunchi (Kokum spiced gravy) with local delicacies – Moode,Gatti Kadabu and Pundi. I have had both these curries before at various Mangalorean restaurants across the city but this was the best I have tasted by far. Both curries are packed with local flavours and while each is so different from the other in combination with the rice delicacies I genuinely felt overwhelmed.
Just when we thought we would wind up our meal we were also served their special desserts – Coconut pudding and Ragi Manni. I was fascinated with this gelatinous halwa made with millet and jaggery which looked quite unassuming but tasted quite heavenly. We just couldn’t have enough of the Coconut pudding and Ragi Manni and kept going back for one more bite.
The special dessert for that day was the Arishina ele kadubu which is a traditional dessert made for special occasions. It is made with rice flour stuffed with coconut jaggery steamed in turmeric leaves wherein the flavour of the turmeric leaf provides that very special flavour and aroma to the dish.
I would have loved to try their Mangalorean special, Gadbad but there’s always a next time especially after such a wonderful first experience.
Maravanthe may not be one of the most talked about restaurants in the city but as someone who believes that good food speaks for itself this place definitely packs all the flavours of the coast especially for those on a budget!
Do check them out on Instagram and Facebook.
Address : 322/1, 1st floor, CMH Road, Indiranagar, call 08049653410.
Phone: 91- 80 – 49653410
Food look so tempting. after the review and picture I just want to visit the place for their food.
keep up Good work
Gurjeet Chhabra
http://www.prismaroundgurjeet.com
wow… mouthwatering platter! Prawn is my alltime favorite and I love spicy food so I guess Bale Yele Masala will be the perfect dish for me 🙂
Wow, I was drooling all over the post, just couldn’t control my temptation. The food looks fab and your description of each made me want to try every dish now.
All looks so delicious and I really want to try that Silver fish looks so tempting !!
#foodgasam ! what a wonderful delicious post this is. I could not stop imagining what they would actually taste like. I am definitely visiting this, I am a Keralite too and to be true, there is nothing like authentic Kerala food.
Your post reminded me of our visit to Marvanthe beach! I completely agree that it is a scenic location and the kadabu was something that I tried there for the first time. This hotel seems to have captured the authentic food of the place.
Maravanthe looks truely authentic! The fish preparations look so delicious! Even the thalis look yummy and filling!
I am presuming the brown square chocolate is rahi Minni and if so it looks delicious. I am not a fisheterian but this has tempted me to try a fish thali 🙈
I have not heard of this place but our India have diverse cultures and food. The cuisine looks delish and I would love to visit here when I get a chance to visit Southern India.
I would love to visit Marvanthe. Your post made me want to try this fish thali too. Thanks for sharing about this place and it’s cuisine.
nice
You don’t believe! After be a bong I don’t like eating fish. Yes that’s true. But prawns are my all time favourite. That ghee roast made me drool.
P. C. Prawns are not fish.
Would love to try the traditional dessert Arishina ele kadubu. This is new for me
Looks like a wonderful spread. Traditional food has its own charm. Will check it out soon.
At this time it appears like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Looks so yummy and delicious. Can’t wait to try the Prawns Ghee Roast 🙂
Bonne chronique. J’aime bien souvent votre blog
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