GOKARNA DIARIES: AUG'14 - Part XVII

SEA FOOD AT KAMAT HOTEL

One of the biggest reasons for us to zero in on Gokarna for our holiday was the fact that being a coastal town, one can expect to get a lot of fresh sea food here. After staying in Goa for a decade, we are not used to eating 'refrigerated' fish, like how we get it in Bangalore. Pappa had suggested that we have our lunch at Kamat Hotel which is on the way to the main temple. Even our auto driver recommended this place for sea food. Having left from Kudle at about 1:00 pm, we got down at Kamat Hotel to have our lunch. If I can recollect correctly, we paid the auto driver Rs. 600/- for his services.

Kamat Hotel is a small cafe located close to the Madhopadachrya Mutt. Like any other hotel in this part of the world, there are about 8 wooden benches on which food is served; at max it can accommodate about 30 people at a time. There is no A/C; do not expect to get continental food either. While the place may come across as simple, the food that they serve is 'out of the world' and that should be good enough for all sea food lovers like us. The fish thalli costing Rs. 100/- comprises of copious amount of white rice,Valli Randai (Malabar Spinach Bhaji), Sambhar, Tarlya Ambat (Sardine Curry) and one big fried Bangddo (Mackeral) with onion and lemon. That is what you call - Awesome! This place is very similar to the small cafes in Malwan region of Maharashtra which serve freshly cooked home food. Besides this, we also ordered a plate of fried Lady Fish (Nogli or Murdoshi). I was in such hurry to eat it that I even forgot to click a snap. You see, fish is one thing that can make me forget everything else. Sadly, due to the rains we could not get any prawn or crab dish.

Another reason why we loved this hotel was Ganesh Mama (that is 'uncle' in Konkani). In his mid 60s, he is the 'life' of the hotel. He goes to each table, inquiring if anybody needs anything or asking the guests about the taste.

Fish Thalli

Fish, Fish and more Fish

After our lunch, we checked into a room at the Kamat Lodge near the Gokarna Partagali Mutt. In fact, the Kamat Hotel as well as the Lodge are owned by the same guy. We had stayed here in 2004 and back then, it had just 4 rooms. Since we were to leave for Bangalore later that evening, we took a single room for Rs. 350/-. We freshened up and later left to roam around in the city and visit the famed temples.

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