Wednesday 30 December 2015

Authenticity and Simplicity - A Coringa Experience


There is something about Coringa the restaurant which has made me write this blog even though I don’t necessarily write about one particular restaurant.  This has been on my wish list for a very long time but just that the drive to the place made me think twice.  Infact some of my fellow foodies were giving rave reviews about the restaurant and to such an extent that I started recommending it to my friends and colleagues  without actually visiting the place and none of them complained but were very happy that they visited it.
 
One fine day I got a few fellow foodies and decided to try this out.  Off we went on a Saturday and the long drive was indeed tiring.  We reached at around 1 and were a bit taken aback at the interiors.

Coringa is located on the Roof Top with the bare minimal décor.  The dining area is huge and well complemented by the open kitchen.  Bamboo dining tables accompanied by bamboo chairs give it a typical dhabha look and may not appeal to many of us.  Well now that we had reached we were seated.  Slowly but surely the ambiance gets into you with the cool breeze as well as the view you begin to enjoy.  This was evident as all of us (4) were discussing on how we liked the simplicity.    Being a Mangalorean myself, I was feeling like as if I was in one of the restaurants that are located in the Western Ghats.  These are some lovely moments that I enjoy during my drive down to Dakshin Kannada.   The restaurants there have bare minimal décor and people go there for the food. 

We were given Rasam as the welcome drink followed by lime drink.  The rasam was more of a cooler to help you gear up for the gluttony that follows.  People from Mangalore would draw comparison that generally rasam rice is the start followed by the full course meal. 
 

 
Generally Andhra food is associated with spice, which to a certain extent is true but it does have some tasty fare which can be less spicy and that too vegetarian.  In Bangalore, Andhra food is associated with spice, biryani and ofcourse the meals.   Here it was different.  Totally different.  We were now about to experience some culinary delights which I would say was really something which any foodie would relish.  For the starters, the Arbi Fry (Chama Dumpa Vepudu), stuffed Karela to Baby Seer Fish.  All amazing and cooked to perfection.  A lot of discussions were on about the food the source of ingredients as well as the recipe which was very interesting to say the least.  We were also informed that the name of the restaurant itself was derived from a name of a place.  Coringa being a place or a village in East of Andhra.  Yes it is a little known fact.  Now, back to the food, some of the starters were quite unique which made our outing even more interesting as for me it was a trip down the memory lane as I remember we used to like all the simple food cooked by grandma.  Yes the food itself took me to a trip down them memory lane.  

To top of it all  there was Dibba Rotti.  This is something which people should try and though we have a similar variant in Mangalore, but this was even better.  To be had with Jaggery and chutney this was really very good.  The crispyness of the outer layer followed by soft inner layer made it something very good to eat. 
 




 

No Andhra meal would be complete without eating rice and we did order the biryani, some Andhra Pappu dal with plain rice along with Kandi Podi rice.  All of them amazing.  The spice was at the right quantity with the meat cooked to perfection to ignite your taste buds. 

I must highlight a fact here that the vegetarians would not be disappointed with this joint.  There is ample choice here and for the meat lovers the menu is quite exhaustive too.  After while and eating so much that we were stuffed we decided to pause a bit before we ordered the dessert. We ended the culinary trip with a sweet called “Pootarekallu” I think.  Lovely dish which is made of sheet of paper made of rice with jaggery and cashew stuffing in it.  Topped with coconut and jaggery.   A must have for all those who have a sweet tooth or even those who don't (like me)
 
 
 



All this while the talk and the food got me thinking about the place as well as food.  There has to be something.  The fact that we were a happy lot after the meal thanks to the lovely food and we could not hide our enjoyment (given away by the smiles on our faces) made me even more curious.
The restaurant had no advertisement, no fancy décor, no hi-fi music or lighting, no hard liquor and top of it no AC too, yet we travelled across the city to try it out and were not wee bit disappointed.

Food served was with basic cutlery and presentation yet it left us wanting for more till our stomachs were full.  Why??? was my question. 

Ahh !!!  The secret was the simplicity and the authenticity of the food.  Yes, there was no extra spice not much of oil than what is necessary and all dishes cooked to perfection.  To top it all up, the owners take special interest in seeking customer feedback which makes a case for itself.   Like they say the secret to good food is through grandma's recipe and that's what Coringa does so effectively.  Eat your heart out like you would have eaten at home.   

Not surprisingly, I visited them 4 more times after that and even took my wife along who is a total veggie to the place and each time I have came out smiling.   It really didn’t surprise me when they won the award at the Times Food Awards and why not, they deserve it.  Does that mean they will expand and reach out to the population at the centre of the city....  I  don’t know but how I wish they would till then......  I guess my long drives followed by sinful eating will continue.

Rating 4/5 for taste as well as service.  A must visit place too.



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