Mangalorean cuisine has evolved over the years to include different ethnicities like Beary Muslims, Mangalorean Catholics, Saraswath Brahmins, and Bunts to name a few. Since Mangalore is a Coastal city, fish forms the staple diet of most people and Manglorean cuisine is generally spicy and rice-based.
Karishma took us to an old restaurant Hotel Maharaja to try some classic Mangalorean delicacies. Here we had all Mangaloreans favorite dish Kori rutti, Chicken ghee roast, Neer dosa, and shellfish.
One of the city's most popular go-to spots for authentic Mangalorean cuisine is Giri Manjas. This nondescript eatery is tucked away in Mangaluru's Car Street. Established in 1984, this small place with ancient interiors is a humble restaurant that has a homely ambiance. The restaurant can seat 40 people at a time and serves up to 200 portions of fish fry every day.
For the evening snacks, Karishma took us to another local eatery- Karthik Hotel. We ordered the famous Kallada tea also known as KT, a three-layered tea where the bottom layer is the condensed milk, the layer above is the foam and on top goes the decoction. We also tried Banana podi, that is fried banana bhaji, Goli baje, and Mangalore buns
Next, Karishma introduced us to Halli Mane Rotti – a mobile fast-food joint that exclusively serves North Karnataka delicacies. The food joint offers three types of rotis made of ragi, jowar, and rice.
with vegetable subjis, spicy chutney, and chicken curry.
Opposite Kadri Park in Mangalore is a food street where you can try paani puri and other street dishes. We had Charmuri – a kind of bhel with puffed rice, coconut oil, and raw mango. We also had grape juicy at the local hangout place dinky dine.
We ended our Mangalore food journey at the iconic ice cream shop Pabba’s. We tried the classic multilayered gadbad which is simply a mix of three different ice cream flavours with dry fruits and flavored syrups. We also had marzi pan- a pan flavoured kulfi.