Sea Rock — Restaurant in Bengaluru

While am familiar & open to most popular cuisines outside India, I cannot say that for the diverse cuisines across India. Coastal Karnataka Cuisine, more specifically Mangalorean Cuisine is something I have always been skeptical to try, primarily with the strong usage of dry coconut.

Recently when I got to try Searock, which specialises in the Coastal Cuisine, with a bunch of foodies, I was excited at the same time, well yes skeptical.

Thankfully the restaurant offers North Indian & Indian Chinese, so I started off with a very meaty Crab Soup, Chinese Style.

The soup was a great start to a great meal, with very strong crab flavours finding its dominance with the sweet corn. The result was an absolutely fabulous seafood soup with some great flavours with a mild pepper punch.

For appetisers, my fellow foodie from Coastal Karnataka, not just helped me decide what to try, but also shared a bit of history & the ingredients that go into the dish, focusing on the star of the show, the seafood.

The King Fish / Surmai Tawa Fry was a beautifully large slice of fresh fish, perfectly marinated with strong South Indian flavours was just right. I loved every bit of this well cooked fish.

Next came the Steaming Hot Plate Of Squid Chilly, a specialty here. I am not A Big Fan Of Squids, but not after having this beautifully fresh Squid Rings in a Chinese Stir Fry. The squids were fresh, well cooked & seasoned & I loved it.

Next came a Delicious Fresh Serving Of Pomfret Masala, smothered with strong Coastal masala atop a well grilled whole Pomfret. It was slightly less desirable for me, as the strong Coastal flavours with dry coconut is something am not a big fan of. But I was able to carve out the beautifully flaky fish underneath the masala & could devour it by carefully avoiding the bones.

Something very authentic to Karnataka is the Ghee Roast. It is a popular Bunt Tuluva Mangalorean recipe whose origins go back to a small town, Kundapur, close to Mangalore. Ghee Roast has a fiery red, tangy and spicy with a flavor of ghee roasted spices, with a choice of meat added.

We had two variations, a Mushrooms & Prawns Ghee Roast. The Prawns version was beautiful, perfectly cooked meat on the strong coastal flavours with a tad bit strength of dry coconut. Am not a big fan of the strong dry coconut flavour, but the ghee made all the difference to this wonderful dish. The Prawns version was a tad bit salty, which made it slightly less desirable.

The mushrooms version was perfect, no complaints, strong ghee / clarified butter with coastal masala was just too perfect.

Next was some beautiful mussels, presented well. The authentic Marvai Sukka was well cooked, tasted delicious. These Humble Mussels Cooked In A Coconut Heavy Dry Masala was one of my favourites.

Too heavy with all these appetisers, we wished to skip directly to desserts, but were requested to try the most popular, Pulimunchi, Neer Dose & Kotte Idli.

Neer Dosa With Prawns Pulimunchi was delicious with strong flavours. This Paper Thin Neer Dosa went beautifully with the Spicy & Tangy Prawns Pulimunchi, a Mangalorean Specialty, made authentically with kokum.

The Kotte Idli was good, blended well with the Mangalorean Sambar.

One of the surprise elements however was the Palak Kichidi that was by far the best I had in many many years. It transported me back to my days in Mumbai, I will keep visiting them again & again just for this top notch dish, don’t you ever miss it.

The final course of Ragi Manni or Finger Millet Pudding is a traditional, healthy dessert is India’s answer to the Italian Panna Cotta. It’s whose origins could be traced to the diverse cuisines of Karnataka.

{Sea Rock Bangalore} I hear is one of the oldest restaurant serving Coastal Karnataka cuisine in Bangalore for decades, successfully. Service was honest, homely & perfect. I have no doubts that for them to serve such wonderful food for several years always so much on their consistency to quantity which attracts customers...

Sea Rock is a must visit place for all the seafood and hardcore Manglorean cuisine lovers. I am a little amateur in that cuisine. but the perfect taste tells you everything. There are few lunches people have that make you not stop eating and cringe about it later to wish that you could have eaten more.

Happen to attend one such lunch on one fine lazy afternoon.

Ambience The place is typically dine in restaurant with two separate floors. It also has a bar in it. Comfortable chairs and sofas available.

Food The food served is to die for (literally)

=Soups We started with the Crab Soup. Delish is the word I would say. Perfect pepper spice with fresh crab. So soothing to the throat.Totally recommend it.

=Starters

Chicken GheeRoast (recommended) We could literally smell the ghee and masala from a long distance. Looks absolutely delicious. The smell surely triggered my taste buds. The masala- perfected into spices and ghee that you would long for more and more. Chicken tender and well marinated in spices.

Prawns GheeRoast(recommended) The masala well marinated into spices and then cooked with prawns. The cooking is just perfect. Fresh and served awesome.

Squids GheeRoast(recommended) I personally did not liked squids that much. But you have to try it here.The marination and the masala just makes everything better and take to new heights.

Crab GheeRoast This was my first experience with crabs.Crabs were so fresh that it added so much flavour to it.Again perfected with the masala.

Kane tawa fry(recommended) I love fish and this is one of the best ever had. So fresh and amazingly fried. And the marination is just delicious and Add so much flavour.

Pomfret Masala Fry Pomfret is one fish everybody loves. The fish is fresh and perfect fry on it adds icing on the cake. Delicious.

Anjal masala Fry(recommended) Again the freshness and marination add so much flavour to the fish. Totally worth a try.

Mussels Masala Fry The size of the mussels used was small here. It had a dry masala filled up. Perfect as a small starter.

Egg Ghee Roast(recommended) Boiled eggs pan fried with masala and lots of ghee. Perfect is the only word.

Neer Dose(recommended) Who does not like this? Perfect combination of the ghee roast. A must order.

=Main Course

Palak Rice ( recommended) You should really try it. I was expecting green palak flavoured rice. But it is totally different. Palak gravy soaked into the rice is the product we get. And it tastes so soothing and delicious. It doesn't seem likes having a palak gravy.Soothing to the soul and feels like home cook food.

Kori roti Crispy neer dose is what I can say. It should be combined and soaked in gravy for eating.

Mangalore Fish Curry The tender fish curry into coconut milk gravy. Combine this with kori roti and you have a delicious combo in front.

Desserts

Ragi Mane I am not a fan of desserts nor ragi mane. The sweet is perfect but still did not find it that delicious.

I would personally recommend this place to people to go and have a meal of their life there. Its perfect for a lazy weekend and have a nap thereafter. Ghee Roast is my personal favourite, be it combined with . Perfect food is what sometimes touches the...

SEA ROCK- A dream destination for every sea food lover. Located in the prime location in sheshadripuram bangalore. This place is 30 years old and they have created a legacy. Their service is prompt, the manager welcomes you with a smile. Ambience is typical family restaurant. They also serve alcohol.

Every single dish I tried was delicious and worth every single rupee you pay. Getting a perfect consistency with respect to sea food is really difficult and these people manage to get to right every single time. Tried the following items during my visit.

Drinks:

*Kokam juice and butter milk- perfect way to build your appetite for delicious meal. Highly refreshing drinks.

Starters:

*Kane Fish rava fry: Perfectly cooked fish. The coating was done well. Tiny hint of spice in the coating was the best.

Anjal fish fry: Getting the right flavor infused into the fish is difficult. But this was perfect in every bite.

*Pomfret masala: Freshly ground masala spread on to the beautifully cooked fish was the best thing I ate in recent times. Can;t describe much with words. One must experience if you are a sea food lover.

*Prawns ghee roast: Ghee roast is the star of every coastal cuisine. Prawns was cooked perfectly. Right coating of the masala.

*Chicken Ghee roast: Same masala but with my all time favorite chicken, It was cooked perfectly. The flavor of ghee hits you perfectly.

*Clams Sukka: Sukka is a masala with coconut as base with spices. This clams sukka is pretty famous near coastal area. The masala was done really well.

*Mushroom, Egg and Paneer ghee roast: Must try for vegetarians. Loved every single bite of this vegetarian version as well.

Main Course:

Neer dose: One cannot miss neer dose when you come to a coastal cuisine restaurant. Paper thin dose done absolutely well.

Kotte idli: Idli steamed in jackfruit leaves. This must be eaten with Drumstick curry.

Drumstick Curry: Well balanced curry with spice. Can eat this with idli or plain rice. Must try dish in Sea rock.

Bangda Fish curry: This was my favorite. Just fell in love with the fish and the base of the curry is done with coconut which was divine.

Palak rice: The best palak rice I have tasted till date. It was truly delicious.

Dal Khichdi: Loved this as well It was served with raitha. Rich in nutrients and a tasty dish.

Desserts:

Ragi Manni: This is famous in coastal region of Karnataka. Healthy dessert which one cannot stop after eating one bite of it. Star of Sea rock is ragi manni. Perfectly cooked and right consistency of sweet.

If you are in bangalore and miss this place, you are truly missing on something big in life. A must visit place for all sea...