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| Mutton croquette, The Coconut Boy |
I found it rather funny that Bandra does not have a good Goan restaurant. One associates Bandra with Goans in pop culture. Bandra was originally home to the East Indians. Like the Goan Catholics, East Indians are those whose forefathers had converted to Christianity during the time of the Portuguese. They are the original residents of Mumbai. The Goans are from Goa, but most would be unaware of this difference. While Mumbai does have a few Goan restaurants, there are no East Indian ones which is a pity. I guess Goans and East Indians are content with the food they get at home and do not see the need for Goan/ EI restaurants. But what about the rest of us?
We were pleasantly surprised to find a new Goan restaurant close to home recently. It is called Coconut Boy and is located near Guru Nanak Park. K and I were out on errands and suddenly decided to drop in. The restaurant had a welcoming vibe to it. There were a fair number of diners even though we had reached at 3pm on a weekday. There was a very relaxed feel to it. Something that one associates with Goa. The staff were in beach shirts, and bright and sunny colours adorned the walls. The place reminded me of Martin’s Corner in south Goa.
The dish of the day for us without a doubt the mutton croquette with green chutney. The spice notes of the finely textured mutton mince took us straight to a place called Nostalgia in Goa whose croquettes we love. The croquettes were nice and juicy and we were tempted to order seconds but did not as we wanted to try out more.
We ordered the sorpotel which is one of my favourite Goan dishes. It was nice and meaty with cuddly little bites of finely cubed pork belly. The gravy was a bit thicker than the homemade sorpotels that we have had. We are lucky to have Goan and East Indian friends and get to have homemade Goan dishes thanks to them. We paired the sorpotel with freshly made poi, the popular Goan bread. Mopping up the sorpotel with the poi was heaven. I packed the leftovers and it tasted even better the next day as sorpotels tend to do.
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| Sausage Pulao, The Coconut Boy |
I ordered the Goan sausage (choriz) pulao which is one of my favourite rice dishes. I love the way the rice takes in the tart flavour of the sausage and the way the little pieces of sausage are interspersed across the rice. The sausage pulao at The Coconut Boy was topped with a rather sour choriz gravy threw me off as I had never come across a choriz pulao like this. I pushed the vexing element aside and dug into the pulao and broke into a big smile. It reminded me of the sausage pulao of Martin’s Corner that I love and miss when in Mumbai. Good to know that there is an alternative close to home.
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| Raw coconut salad |
We ordered a couple of non-traditional Goan dishes. The tender coconut, raw mango and avocado salad was ‘refreshing’ as the menu described it to be. The steamed clams in coconut water, lime, garlic and green chilli were clam shells in a shot of green chilli-powered sauce. Both of us found it too hot to eat.
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| Clam in green chilli rocket fuel |
The experience left me happy and I want to go back and try the buff chilli fry, pan-fried potato chops, mutton puffs, fish cutlets, grilled pork chop vindaloo and buff steak with fried egg and chips. Let me block my dieticians on Instagram first!
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| With the choriz pulao and sorpotel |
I went back to the Coconut Boy and I had the pork chop vindaloo. A celebration of voluptuous fattiness, served on a bed of robust vindaloo masala.
