Coastal Junction

I was actually in the mood for a good steak, but plans had to be changed because of the recent cattle controversy – didn’t want anyone to have any beef with me. Ok, actually, the place that I had in mind  – Pizzeria Romano, turned out to be a veg only joint (according to Burrp). Bah. And that’s how we ended up at Coastal junction in Indiranagar. To get there, get on to 12th Main, towards 80 ft Road, and turn left at the end of the road. You’ll find Rosebys on your left. Coastal Junction is on the 4th and 5th floors.

Since it was a nice breezy evening, we decided to try out the 5th floor terrace option. We reached there by around 7.45, and so were able to get a nice corner seat with an awesome view. If you’re planning to go after 8, it’d be safer to reserve. The seating is quite comfortable, and the tables decently spread out so that it isn’t claustrophobic, altogether it manages to justify the fine dining description, in terms of ambience, even if only just so.

Though I’d expected mostly sea food in the menu, it surprised me with a decent collection of veg options. For starters, vegetarians can choose from more than half a dozen options, including things not regularly seen – banana flower, yam, sannas masala, crispy fried raw banana. (Rs.90-125). The non veg starters have a huge selection of sea food – prawns and fish mostly, lobster, (Rs.260-325) as well as chicken (Rs.195) and mutton. (Rs.255)

Again, for the main course, there are quite a few options for vegetarians, including an ullitheeyal, pachakari stew, kerala sambar among others. (Rs. 115-155, yes, we grimaced too, at the thought of a sambar at a three figure cost). For those who cast a wider net as far as consumption goes, there’s a goan crab curry, lots of prawn and fish options (the latter mostly Kerala dishes Rs.265-315), chicken dishes (Xacuti, kori gassi, malabar stew among others, Rs.235) and a couple of mutton dishes. (Rs.295). To go along with that, you could either have biriyani (prawn/chicken/fish/mutton Rs.265-365) or choose from kappa, appams, sannas, neer dosas, idiappam, kori roti, malabar paratha (Rs.45-65) or even plain rice.They also serve alcohol and seem to have a decently stocked bar.

Complimentary rice papadoms with a sauce and a cut mango pickle, and a glass of  rasam are given before the meal.  Do try out the pickle. Excellent stuff. We started with a Kane Bazulle, “ladyfish marinated in Mangalore masala and deep fried”. This is quite different from the rava fry we tend to order. The coconut oil flavor is unmistakable, and though  it could’ve been fried a bit more, it was quite good. For the main course, we ordered a Kottayam fish curry, “seer fish cubes cooked in spicy red coconut gravy”, a Chicken Coondapur, “semi dry chicken cooked in freshly ground coconut, red chillies, jeera and garam masala”, and to go with it, Malabar Paratha,”kerala special layered bread” and egg appam, “soft centre, crispy lace edged rice pancake with egg” (yeah yeah, the fine dining version of porotta and mutta appam for all those sniggering mallus reading this :p ). The fish curry, though spicy and delicious was a mistake. D says she was deceived by the coconut in the description, she expected it to be a thick gravy, but it wasn’t. It’d actually be great with plain rice or kappa, but we managed with the paratha. The chicken dish had a thick gravy, excellent stuff, and highly recommended, but only if you’re okay with grated coconut. The paratha was for once, wasn’t flaky, and was made well. The appam’s shape was slightly off, as compared to the ones we usually see, but was very tasty.

Though the dessert options were different from the regular stuff we see (except for the ice creams) – dhodol, pazaham pradhaman, elaneer payasam, ada pradhaman (Rs.110-135), we were completely stuffed by then. Another example of their consistency (with the theme) was the mouth freshener – a cashew+nutmeg+cardamom Mangalore supari mix. The service deserves mention because it was the best we’ve experienced in quite a long time. They offer help with the menu, point out the not-so-obvious stuff, and are extremely prompt – right from when they bring out different courses to refilling water, and billing.

All of the above cost us a little less than Rs.1000. Though its not inexpensive, the place is worth a visit, especially if you’re in the mood for some good coastal food.

Coastal Junction, No:623, 11th Main, 80 ft Road, Indiranagar. Ph: 41523470

Menu and Photos at Zomato