For the uninitiated, err.. that would include all of you.. i extend my heartfelt sympathies for fish lovers looking to savour authentic gomantak ( if there exits any ) fish cuisine at the famed gomantak in dadar. The only thing that rivals the queue outside the ticket counter at andheri station at 9 a.m is the one outside gomantak .. yes u guessed right , hungry patrons stand in the hot sun to get a taste of the supposedly gomantak cuisine. Am i being a bit too critical here ? Yes i am.
So the story goes like this... ( doesnt it remind you of a novice writer , yes i am..)
I had an hours time to kill , before i could meet a friend to catch a movie. (Un)Fortunately i was in mahim at around 12 30 pm.My aunt refused to cook for me as i crashed at her place without sufficient notice.. talking about mumbaiyya culture .. coming from a hospitable place called goa, this was something i just couldnt take. So i decided to avenge my aunts behaviour by treating myself to one of the most talked about places for "fishy" cuisine in dadar.
I walked for almost 20 min to whet my appetite .. When i reached the place, i could see a long meandering queue next to the bus stop, which i presumed was for the bus ..dumbo..that was the begining of some surprises . That queue was to get in the restaurant . i stood in a corner covering my face , not to save myself from the blazing sun rays , but for fear of being seen standing in a queue to enter a restaurant. i shudder to think what my friends and parents would think back home. One, i stand in a queue to enter a place to eat fish( in goa places shout out and beg u come and eat !) and two, i was alone . I am supposed to be the most jovial guy in my part of the world and who always has company , not necessarily of the fairer sex :) But going alone to eat would be nothing less of martyrdom back home .
In between all this trauma of being seen by some acquaintance and the unrelenting sun rays, i had to catch the attention of the waiter to let him know of my existence. Fortunately after that ordeal, i managed to catch a corner seat in the restaurant:) For company, i had a gentleman in his early 40's slurping away the remanants of his vegetarian thali in a fish speciality restaurant. Couldnt conceal a smile that said, u dumbo.. why are u eating veg thali in this fishy abode ? A mischeivous smile bounced back from his content and satisfied look. I couldnt fathom the seriousness of that smile at that point in time. Alas!! ..
After going through the elaborate menu , which was greasy and repulsive to say the least, i managed to zero in on the safest bet ( usually it is) .. a fish curry and rice. Pomfret fry to have a lingering after effect of a perfect fish fiesta.
The food arrived in exactly 2 min. Wonder if they train their staff in supply chain management .An udupi restaurant would be put to shame on the turn arount time parameter!
The fried pomfret was passable, tasted like a typical malvani( malvan is a area in coastal maharastra , clsoe to goa. more about malvan in subsequent posts ) preparation. The rice was basmati rice ..aarrggh.. i had planned a gomantak place and not some swanky restaurant( not that i abhor such places , but they service a different section of the society) in bandra .
Fish curry is "not" to be eaten with basmati .Preferably with unpolishe rice.. Thats enough of gyaan.
But the most disappointing part was the curry :(( Every goan who knows and loves his/her curry will tell you that its the fish curry he/she ( lest some feminist holds it against me ) misses the goan curry the most. .. The USP of any fish curry rice place, is the curry. that holds the clientele together with its flavors and the coconut juice. This place had probably the worst currry i ever had in a proper fish speciality restaurant. It was like some ..err ..um.. forget it, wont even try describing. The saving grace was the mango pickle that was served after i asked for it . It tasted like the ones my grandma used to make during the summer vacations spent in belgaum. The "SOL kadi" made of coconut milk ( some affinity to coconuts in the konkan belt, i must confess !) was again ok ok types.
Eventually i managed to finish the food. I had to give the owner a piece of my mind . I presume he knew what was coming. I think i saw him in the corner of my eye everytime i looked up at the ceiling with distraught and a sense of being cheated by the fish curry speciality place.
Me: " The fish is malvani style, the pickle is belgaum style.. Curry kahan ki style ka hai.. Gomantak style toh pucca nahi hai"
Owner: " Saab yeh hamara speciality hai ".
Me: " Thank you"
Somehow i could manage to control myself and rush out of the restaurant, lest i say something nasty.
And i promised my self that i will write a blog, just to tell the world that all that's gomantak and sells fish curry rice need not be the authentic stuff . I pity all those people who come out licking their fingers at being treated to a gomantak meal . Sorry guys, you havent tasted the stuff yet.
Watch out for more posts , to a guide on the best places for fish curry rice in goa..
Cheers ( thats nothing to do with me being a goan ! )
