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While exploring Mangalore for the delicious seafood restaurants that the city has, I asked the locals about the best places to eat seafood in Mangalore. Restaurants like ‘Narayan’, ‘Macchali’, and ‘Giri Manjas’ were some of the suggestions that kept coming up. However, the true-blue seafood lovers also asked me back, “Have you been to Thimappa Fish Hotel in Udupi?”.
Udupi, a coastal town 50 Kilometres away from Mangalore, is full of culinary treasures. Making a trip to Udupi is highly recommended for any food explorer. The famed cuisine of Udupi has given birth to many popular vegetarian dishes, and the widespread presence of Udupi hotels across the country is a testimony to it. Proximity to the Malpe fishing harbour provides Udupi town with various fresh seafood. The Tulunadu-style coastal cuisine of Dakshin Kannada is at its finest in Udupi. Marinated seafood, be it Seer fish, Pomfret, Mackerel or fresh prawns, being cooked on a tawa or deep fried coated with Rava, is a common sight on the coast of Udupi. Out of the many kinds of seafood or fish hotels in Udupi, the most famous and loved is the Thimappa Fish Hotel; hence after many requests from food lovers, I visited the legendary restaurant.
It was a Saturday afternoon, and a long queue was waiting to be accommodated inside a few medium-sized dining halls. While waiting for the table, I got to visit the kitchen of the Thimappa hotel, where all the magic happens. There is a separate section for preparatory work (cutting, cleaning, and marinating seafood) and a separate section for cooking. The females handle the marination, and the males man the tawa. Most of the region's old and authentic seafood restaurants rely on family recipes passed on from generation to generation. Tawa was brimming with different variety of fish being fried. Pan full of Ghee roast flavours were emitting from one side of the kitchen as the luscious prawns took to the Masala’s engulf. It was a busy operation that was all moving smoothly, as the fishes kept hopping from the cleaning baskets to the marination bowls, then on to cooking ranges, and finally onto the platters to be devoured by the patrons of the Thimappa hotel.
Inside the dining hall, it was banana leaves galore. Staff laid out fresh leaves for all diners, and the service began. The flaky goodness of a well-fried and spiced tawa Anjal (Indo-Pacific King Mackerel) is a gastronomical pleasure every seafood lover must indulge in, and the first morsel of it on our palate reassured the claim. Fish curry served atop the rice had flavours abound. It was slightly thicker and spicier than what I tried in Mangalore. In South India, just like the sambhar, fish curry too differs in flavour from town to town. The delicious taste of fish curry with rice, and the seafood dishes with different textures and cooking styles available at Thimappa hotel, lead people from many other cities to dine at this famous Udupi restaurant.
Coastal Karnataka is also the land of ghee roast. Spices slow-roasted in a generous amount of ghee bring out an addictive taste in the dish it is added to, and we ate till we licked the fingers clean. Prawn ghee roast is a must-try dish at Thimappa hotel, as well as their crispy fried fish. Enjoy a hearty meal in Udupi, with seafood in different flavours, and celebrate the culinary treasures from the ocean.
The service staff at the restaurant takes pride in being courteous and hospitable and serves the guests with love and commitment. Prices are reasonable and affordable, and one can eat to heart’s content for 500 rupees per person, overeating included. As an able companion to the meal, the tempered buttermilk is served and encapsulates an immersive experience of the regional cuisine.
The entire region of coastal Karnataka is a treat for a food lover, with the distinction of providing excellent vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Blessed by nature, coastal Karnataka is scenic and a treasure trove for culinary ingredients from the land and the sea, making it a must-experience for all gastronomes and leaving you with culinary memories to cherish for a long time.
Sidharth Bhan Gupta, Founder of 361 Degrees Hospitality, is a Hospitality / Food and Beverage / Restaurant Consultant, Travelling across India on a Cultural and Culinary Exploration.
