seafood joint - mumbai

[slow_hand]

hi all, I'm currently planning on going to mumbai in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone could recommend between trishna, mahesh lunch home, apoorva and excellensea. a few posters on boards have said that trishna has gone downhill, is that the case ? we only have 3 days or would try them all (!) so any help is appreciated, thanks.

[klyeoh]

I'd try them all, plus Gajalee.

[slow_hand]

ermm... ok... if u had to pick just one which would it be ? :)

[klyeoh]

For me, it's got to be Mahesh Lunch Home. But I do hope you get to try at least 3 of those restaurants as each has their strong points.

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Mahesh Lunch Home
8-B, Cawasji Patel Rd Mumbai Maharashtra, Maharashtra , IN

[slow_hand]

thanks, sorry to be a pest but what individual dishes would be great at these places - i know pomfret hyderabadi and garlic butter pepper crab at trishna eg.... we'll try to do a roundup of all 3 in a day and report back

[klyeoh]

Mahesh Lunch Home's prawn Gassi & pomfret curry are nice, but I liked practically everything on their menu.

Gajalee's crisp-fried Bombay Duck is nice, as are their Crab Curry (they can also de-shell the crabs for you upon request) and the butter-garlic-pepper prawns.

Both places also served really good mutton briyanis.

You really can't go wrong at any of them (including Trishna, of course), very high standard of Malvani/Konkani cuisine all round.

[osho]

This information is a bit dated so look at the phone book and verify before you go.

Punjabi Fish Mart - across from the Metro Mosque used to have superlative pomfret, rawas, giant prawns as well as perfectly fried chicken - all slathered with their signature Punjabi masala, based on the Amritsari style.

[klyeoh]

Contact numbers for Mahesh Lunch Home in their website:
http://www.maheshlunchhome.com/contact.htm

Gajalee:
http://www.gajalee.com/

[slow_hand]

Thanks so much!! Will report back, think the itinerary is mahesh and trishna for now since gajalee has a branch in singapore. the list for mumbai is long but the time is short (

[klyeoh]

Look forward to your report. BTW, Gajalee's branch in Singapore costs 3 times more than its Mumbai branches. And they don't de-shell the crabs for you in Singapore ;-)

CH thread on Gajalee Singapore from the China/SE-Asia board:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/716902

[intrepidgourmand]

Gajalee serves Malwani food from the Konkan coast more like Maharashtrian and Goan Hindu food. It is a fantastic restaurant. The others are Mangalorean Shetty (Bunt) style food. They are also great.

The original outlet of Gajalee does not serve alcohol.

I would add Oh Calcutta for seafood and Diva Maharashtracha for excellent Maharashtrian style meat.

Best dishes:

Gajalee - Tandoori chicken (best I ever ate, Maharashtrian style and spicy unlike the blander original North Indian style), Mutton Sukka, Tisrya (Clams) Koshimbir, Bombil (Bombay Duck) fry. Each dish is unique and will not taste the same anywhere else.

Mahesh - Pomfret Gassi (Best ever, mother never made it like this and I am from Mangalore and Mom is a great cook), Surmai / Rawas Masala fry, Prawns in Butter Garlic. The Mahesh in Juhu is the best of the three outlets with a larger variety.

Trishna - Crabs in butter garlic (also available without the shell) and Pomfret Malai Kabab (This is better than the Hyderabadi. The strong pepper flavor of the Hyderabadi overwhelms the delicate flavor of the pomfret) and Rawas Hyderabadi.

It is worth trying the difference in Mutton Sukka between the one Gajalee serves (Malwani) and the one served at Trishna, Mahesh, Apoorva etc. (Bunt style). Two totally different takes on a dish with the same name. (Sukka means Dry).

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Trishna
7, R Walk Lane Mumbai Maharashtra, Maharashtra , IN

[slow_hand]

Hi all
Thanks so much for all the recs. We went crazy and hit up mahesh trishna and gajalee in 2 days.
Mahesh - seafood was excellently done nothing overcooked. Bombay duck fry, pOmfret green masala, prawn gassi. Prawn gassi was the favorite, very rich with thick coconut flavor.
Trishna - the favorite of the group. Crab with garlic butter pepper, dal hyderabadi, pomfret hyderabadi. The group liked te crab and dal, but I felt the crab was stale and only saved by the huge amounts of butter. Note .. Do NOT order your crab deboned. We did and I think they ripped us off... The crab came in 10 minutes flat and had stringy meat, no chunks, indicative of mostly small leg meat.
Gajalee- my personal favorite of the bunch .. Had the chicken tandoori I thought it wad overcooked but MAN the crab green chilly was great. Chunks of meat and came in 1/2 hour in an empty restaurant indicative that they actually did take the time to peel the crab they showed us.
So my verdict - gajalee ftw on the basis of that one dish. Trishna kind of tastes delicious if u get fooled by copious amounts of fat and I it quite turned off by the crab ripoff. We didnt have crab in mahesh but thought everything was excellent if not super transcendent

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Trishna
7, R Walk Lane Mumbai Maharashtra, Maharashtra , IN

[skinnylizard]

wow, seems you really did go crazy on the sea food. good stuff, will help others take their calls.

how about other places you went?

[Senzinina]

I landed up at Mahesh Lunch Home by mistake today. Tried to get to Gajalee, but it had closed by 4 pm. My taxi driver brought me here and I was delighted to see I'd recognized it from this thread. What an awesome experience! They were out of the crab for the day, so the waiter recommended the lobster. It was OUTSTANDING. Fried and swimming in chili garlic sauce with garlic butter naan on the side. I had a glass of an Indian chardonnay with it, that I liked very much. For being the wine freak I am, I should have noted what it was, but did not. The spices killed it anyway, but anything cold is always good here. LOL. Anyway, this is a little oasis and very close to the international airport. Hurray!