The Seafood Binge Continues... Fish Curry Rice!!

We had, had seafood just a day back (please check the review posted before this one at my blog) but for some reason ‘iss dil ne maanga more’ hence, yet again, we honed in on a seafood restaurant for dinner. This time we opted for Fish Curry Rice.

I messaged Sandesh, the owner of FCR, who guided me to their online ordering website and very patiently and politely answered the many, many questions I asked while placing my order.

The dishes I ordered were, Prawn Rawa Fry, Rawas Rawa Fry, Tisrya (Clam) Masala, Crab Masala, Prawn Rice, Bangda Curry (Karwadi, with Tirphal), Sol Kadi and Dashmi (rice chapattis).

The Rawas Rawa Fry, (as one can see from the photograph) was merely fried without the coating of Rawa (semolina), as requested from the menu. The coating/exterior was entirely different because it lacked the Rawa coating, but the fish was very well marinated and texture of the fried fish was spot on!

The Prawn Rawa Fry deserves a very special mention. This food order travelled nearly 8 kilometres to reach my residence but the prawns were fried so beautifully that the rawa crumb on the prawn remained crisp while the prawn within was perfectly succulent. To have achieved that in a home delivery order is extremely commendable!

The Tisrya Masala was the STAR of the day. The coconut masala in which the clams were cooked was outstanding and the freshness of the Tisrya (clams) have to be eaten to be believed. This was the best Tisrya Masala I have had in a long, long time. If there was a way in which I could rate this 11/10, I would do so in a jiffy! This was a superlative dish!

The Crab Masala was another winner. The crab was cooked to perfection in a delicious masala. For me, the reason why Fish Curry Rice wins hands down is because each masala base and each curry preparation is different in taste; depending on the type of fish or crustacean used. No two curries bases or masala are similar. The masala used for the tisrya was way different from that of the crab. The crab masala boldly held its own stance. Delicious is an understatement!

The Prawn Rice was very flavoursome and they were not at all stingy with the quantity of prawns. There is one complaint though! All prawns were cleaned and deveined, except one. I put that down to human error which can happen at time to anyone, just that this error could well have led to the ‘loosies’. Luckily, I’m in the habit of keeping a close watch on the prawns when ordered from a restaurant hence caught the ‘nasty bugger’ in time. ;)

I ordered Dashmi’s (rice chapattis) for the very first time. They are thin and soft and I wish I had ordered more than four. Sigh! As for the Sol Kadi, the hit of ginger came through beautifully, all the while merging gracefully with the subtle, yet noticeable overtones of kokum and coconut milk. Once again, as the night before, I had the Sol Kadi with the Prawn Rice. Take my word for it, the combination is mind-blowing! The leftover Sol Kadi went into the fridge and while, the next afternoon, my family chose to drink it, I had it with steamed white rice. (Oh! Bite me; ab aadat pad gayi toh pad gayi ;) )

Each and every dish was very well made and I could not find fault with anything. It was an outstanding meal. Perfect in every way!

Sandesh, thank you ever so much for executing my order to such perfection! Also, heartfelt thanks for your patience in regard to answering the million questions I threw at you before placing the order. It was truly very kind of you to have been so patient!

Food: 4.5/5 (missed the 5 mark because of that un-deveined prawn and the omission of rawa in my Rawas Rawa Fry)

Service (online/over the phone/delivery): 5/5

Ambiance: Had the food home delivered. If I rate the ambiance 5/5 people are going to accuse me of being biased and corrupt. :P :D

P.S: At the cost of sounding repetitive... Photographs of home delivered food are never up to the mark because I have hounds barking at my feet, telling me to hurry the f#@k up as they tend to get into the ‘hungry mode’ as soon as they see food; more so, if it’s sea food. :D 

They have two branches, with a third one on its way at Baner.

The two branches are:

This is the first branch they opened; a simple, no frills branch

- 586, Gangadhar Apartment, Near Kanya Shala, Kelkar Road, Narayan Peth, Off Budhwar Peth, Pune

- Tel: 020 30162049

This is the second branch; this is an air conditioned branch

- Intersection of Canal Road and Law College Road, Law College Road, Pune

- Tel: 020 30162048

Fish Curry Rice - The Seafood Saga!

Fish Curry Rice - The Seafood Saga! 

Never have I ever heard so many good reviews about a restaurant. Be it in newspapers or food forums, everyone always has wonderful things to say about this eatery. I always wondered if the reviews were hyped. This restaurant is at the other end of town hence it had been on my ‘to visit’ list for a long, long time. Finally, on Tuesday night, I and my bestie trudged all the way to Law College Road to savor the food that we had heard so much about.

As we had traveled a long way we requested for a cold drink. We were told cold drinks were not a part of their menu. They only serve Mineral water. The server offered to bring us cold drinks from a shop next door but we turned down the offer as we did not want them to go out of their way. I must say, though, it was an extremely kind gesture. I really do wish they give the inclusion of cold drinks on their menu a thought. They did serve us a delicious kokum based welcome drink. Very refreshing!

We decided to order two different thalis and share them so we’d get a variety of fish and curries to taste. We ordered for the Crab Thali (Rs 500) and the Special Fish Thali (Rs 600).

Each thali consisted of two curries and one dry preparation. One thali had Surmai (King fish) curry and Bangda curry, while the other had Prawn Curry and Crab Curry/Masala. For the dry preparation one thali was served with crisp fried (boneless) fresh Bombay Ducks, while the other thali had fried Pomfret in it. As we were sharing everything and also because we gluttons were too busy hogging on the delicious food, I do not remember which thali served what curries. We love prawns so in spite of each thali being quite enough for one person, we order for a portion of Prawns Green Fry (Rs 350). They also served us three chapattis and a bowlful of fluffy steamed rice, with each thali, to go with the curries.

Okay, now for the positives and the negatives: I plan to state the negatives first because that is not what I want the readers to remember. The negatives have been penned by me only to bring the points to the notice of the management so that they may improve on the negatives pointed out.

Please note: The few small negatives that I am listing have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the AWESOME food they serve. FCR should have a small list of cold drinks on their menu. They should not charge the customer (Rs 20) for the Mineral water bottle kept at the table if it is unopened and unused. The servers need to be trained better. They should not lean over me (customers) to pick up cutlery from the table. They may request the customer to pass it to them or bring in cutlery from the kitchen to cut the Pomfret/fish at the table. They should also be taught not to take cutlery from one (my) table and use it at the neighboring table. (That one had me and my bestie stunned! :-O ). But, having said that, I clumsily tipped over a bowlful of Sol kadi, and two servers rushed forward to help me soak it up with tissue papers. The servers are EXTREME POLITE & HELPFUL! They just need to be trained better and need a bit of finesse in regard to table manners. I speak Marathi but my vyakarn (grammar) sucks big time and I end up making big boo-boos. :( Not a good thing at all, hence it would be nice if the servers spoke a bit of Hindi and English. They also need to make some arrangement for a washroom. People may need to use a clean washroom if they have traveled a distance to visit FCR. I ventured towards the washroom and immediately made a 180 degree turn when I saw where/how it was located.

Now for the positives: EXCELLENT - FRESH seafood. There were a total of four curries and each curry was different in taste and truly mind blowing. They were delicious and very flavorful. Not many restaurants can manage that with so many curries. Kudos FCR, you did! (y) They served two types of coconut chutneys (green and orange). Both were so darn good that I requested the server to bring me some more. The Bombay ducks were crisp, just as they should be. The Pomfret was flaky and fried to perfection! That extra order of Prawns Green Fry was brought to the table piping hot and the prawns were perfectly cooked/fried. Not at all rubbery and over cooked. A 10/10 dish! For all the food I ate, truly as an avid foodie, I give FCR a big A+. There was not a single food item that I could find fault with. Not a single item! I mean it! And let me add, the great reviews they get for their food are reviews they well and truly deserve.

As mentioned, there were a few small boo-boos in regard to the service so will I visit the restaurant again? You bet your sweet patootie I WILL!

Do not go to FCR for a ‘fine dining’ experience, if you do, you will come away disappointed. BUT, if it’s a ‘no frills’ FANTASTIC SEAFOOD experience you are looking for then, truly, look no further than FCR. I promise, you will not come away disappointed.

Ambiance: 2/5 (simplistic décor is perfectly okay but the washroom issue is a big NO)

Food: 5/5

Service: 2.5/5 (if the servers stop leaning over me at my table and if they stop using cutlery from my table at the next table, then next time I will give them a 4/5. In return, I promise I will do my best to talk to them in Marathi and hopefully they will understand the gibberish I mouth. :D )

Address: Law College Road, Intersection of Canal Road and Law College Road, Pune

Tel no: 9021101234