A little bite of heaven

It used to be a long drive, all the way to Mahim, to taste the delicious food served at the trio of restaurants - Goa Portuguesa, Culture Curry and Diva Maharashtracha. Good news is that now all three are in Andheri, near Lokhandwala Complex.

Oh! how I love the food here and the best part about eating at these restaurants is that it doesn't matter whichever one you are at; you can order your favourites out of a compilation of all three menus. Its almost mandatory to have the Solkadi here. The breads, the gravies and the salads are all lovely. I almost always have the bhakri and the amboli. Appams are a favourite too, especially to mop up coconut-based gravies. The Khamang Kakadi salad is to die for. I've tried it at home as well, and it wasn't too difficult to copy to perfection. The Ambat God Varan is great. The Bharlele Bombil is good, but its a bit too heavy to be included in the starters. The Mangalorean Sukkha Mutton is awesome.

This time round (my first time at the Andheri location), I tried the Malvani Hirva Rassa - basically, a coriander and coconut based gravy with fish. Loved the gravy, even though the fish that was recommended by the host, Surmai, was not what I would've selected.I thought the gravy would've gone better with prawns.But then, prawns are my weakness.

I still haven't tried out a large section of their extensive menu including  Bharleli Wangi, Wangyache Bhareet, Prawn Kozhambu, Prawn Vindaloo (Ya, I know!! Its a shame I haven't tried it out yet)

The one thing that I seriously don't like about the place and that is the number of photographs that adorn the place - photographs of the owner, with his wife, with his family and with all the celebrities he has met. The photos are on the walls, on the menus as well as on the little business cards that are handed out to the guests. At the Mahim location, it is the owner himself who goes from table to table, introducing himself to the guests, handing out his card and even the book he has written. I guess it is good to make sure your guests are well taken care of but in this case, it almost seems like there is no privacy. 

So during my visit to the Andheri location, I was happy I would be free from all this. But oh no! The host /manager has been programmed to do the owner's job here. So, unfortunately, there is no respite from all the self-promotion. There are provisions, however, to drown this sorrow in a beautifully prepared Chicken Xacuti.

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances should the reader assume that all the dishes mentioned in this post have been tried out in one go. A list this extensive has required frequent trips to these restaurants.