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| Coastal Banga |
I have had some interesting restaurant meals recently and can’t wait to tell you about them. I thought that I would start with the one whose food left the biggest impression on my heart and my belly.
I am talking of the one-month-old Coast and Bloom (C&B) Restaurant which is located at Kohinoor Square opposite Shiv Sena Bhavan. I was invited over for lunch there by Mitra Walke and his sister Sayli. Their mother, Mrs Surekha Walke, is the owner of the very popular Malvani restaurant called Chaitanya. Chaitanya has 3 branches The original one is at Malvan. They are located at Prabhadevi and Versova in Mumbai. Coast and Bloom is an initiative from the second generation to enter a space which is very different from Chaitanya and yet stays true to its coastal roots.
Let’s look at the differences first. C&B is more spacious than the original Chaitanya. The decor is modern and plush in comparison to Chaitanya which has the spartan seating that characterises restaurants of its genre. C&B has a well-stocked bar with a varied cocktail menu and wine cellar. Chaitanya does not serve alcohol. The menu at C&B features dishes from across India and the world while Chaitanya focuses on Malvani food. The cost of dishes at C&B is understandably much higher than that in Chaitanya.
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| Coast and Bloom |
So is there nothing in common between the two? Turns out that there is.
The Chef de Cuisine of C&B, Prrasad Parab, hails from the Malvan as do the Walkes and the love for coastal food runs in their DNA.
It is no surprise that they have come up with a menu that features coast food. This is not limited to dishes from Malvan the region, but covers other parts of India, South Asia, Far Eastern Asia and the Mediterranean region. Mitra said that they have tried to stick to classic versions of the dishes. They have an advantage when it comes to seafood as they have used the suppliers who provide fish in Chaitanya. Vegetables used are local. The only imports are scallops and salmon.
You might have noticed that I have used the term ‘coastal food’ and not ‘seafood,’ unlike what one associates with Malvani food. Mitra told me there is a lot more to the Malvani food than seafood. The people of Malvan in coastal Maharashtra eat vegetarian food every day. Seafood consumption is limited by the fact that people are purely vegetarian three days a week and then there are certain months in the year when they are vegetarian. Country chicken is the preferred meat and is consumed far less frequently than fish. Mutton is consumed rarely.
I was a bit circumspect about the huge range of the menu. Had they spread themselves too thin, I wondered.
I brought up the point with Mitra who explained that they were targeting the family audience. The traditional dishes on the menu were for family elders and the international dishes were for Gen Z.
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| Sri Lankan crab curry (deshelled crab) |
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| Kerala pepper clams |
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| Wood roast chicken |
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| Crab kakori |
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| Rockfellers Crab was |
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| kothimbir popper |
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| Coastal banga |
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| Spana Kopitas |
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| Kokum shrimp salad |
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| Kolimbi bhaat |
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| With Sayli and Mitra |
