Those who have followed the story of my hubby’s broken leg and subsequent hospitalization in Vikram Hospital, will know that I spent my time staring at the Shangrila Hotel from the window of our room there.
Well all that wistful gazing finally paid off and I received an invite from my dear friends at the Shangrila, to attend the Mangalorean food festival that is currently on at their B Cafe, as a part of their regular buffet.

Being a Mangalorean, I just could not refuse this invitation and besides I also needed a change from being constantly Beside the Bedside and playing Florence Night’ingale, Day’ingale and All-day’gale to the poor hubby !!!
So I found a hubby-sitter and sailed off to the coast of Mangalore … that had magically appeared just 4 kms from my house 

Chef Vidya Prabhu (aka Komal) has been specially ‘imported’ from Mangalore, to recreate these dishes. Excelling in Goud Saraswath Brahmin cuisine (GSB) and Bunt cusine, Komal also has her own Maharaja restaurant in Mangalore and also runs several successful catering businesses.
Apart from her expertise in cooking, she also turned out to be an amazing human being, humble and simple and besides enjoying the work of her hands, I also made a friend for life 
Chef Rounak Kinger of Shangrila, also was a great host as always and his enthusiasm and passion for his work, came through in every word he spoke.

We began the meal with traditional fritters made from Breadfruit and Teasel gourd (Phagila in konkani). Rava coated and crisp, these were a delight, especially to someone like me who is a great fan of both the vegetables.
The masala fried mackerel, seer and silver fish, were extremely fresh and fried to just the right extent and so was the famous Kaney Rava fry, also known as Lady fish. Tender inside and crip on the outside, these were really done to perfection.

While they have Prawn ghee roast and other prawn curries in their daily changing menu, it was Dry prawn in a coconut gravy for us. And though I missed the real ‘prawns’, this delicious, silken curry with succulent bits of prawns that had rehydrated by imbibing the liquid in the gravy, pretty much made up for the loss and the seafood lover in me was very very pleased.

I sampled a bit of the chicken curry, fish curry, mutton stew and beef curry, with accompaniments of Neer dosa and Kori Rotti. For a fan of coconut like me, these curries are what I can live off all my life. The mutton stew was my favorite and I had it with Khotte and Moode, cousins of the idli, that are steamed in the leaves of the jackfruit and screwpine respectively.

GSBs do have an impressive range of vegetarian dishes too and we had a potato curry, black channa in coconut and a strikingly red beetroot and coconut stew.

The chef prefers to use organic ingredients wherever possible and the freshness of the flavors is very evident in all the dishes. The recipes are all home style and these dishes are not normally available in restaurants.

It was a bit of a disappointment to note that they did not have traditional desserts apart from banana halwa but the dessert counter of the regular buffet was operational as always and I made sure to get the coconut ice cream that I had loved during my earlier visit. They also have a Five spice and a Green tea ice cream that is worth trying.

At dinner they also serve ‘Mangalore style’ cocktails and mocktails with Kokum and Coconut.

The festival is on from Aug 20-28, 2016.

Cocktails – around Rs 300 ++
Lunch buffet – Rs 1250 ++
Dinner buffet – Rs 1600 ++
Home style food and new found relationships – Priceless

For everything else … there is some credit card or the other 

For more pictures see My Facebook – Shangri-La-Mangalorean food festival

Aug 24th, 2016