Uppu Munchi – a paradise for South Indian coastal food.

Food is an essence of our lives but good food that lingers on the tastebuds for a long time is something we all crave to keep having again and again. The experience that I had relishing some of the mouthwatering delicacies at Uppu Munchi at Tumkur Road,  Bengaluru is one of its kind and something that will make me visit again. Like most places, this was one of the places that I had only heard of but never visited until last week. I joined a blogger friend on an invite and we set out for lunch.

It is a part of Shivbhoj hospitality group that also runs two other outlets – “Shivbhoj food court” and “Red Sun” in the same building at different floors.

LOCATION:

I believe most people might have missed out trying a soulful meal or even knowing about this place due to its location. It is at a spot in Goreguntapalya where the Metro station almost blocks the visibility of the building through the service road. It can be easily missed. If they can do something more with better hoardings or signage, that will be fantastic!

AMBIANCE

It has been a really long time that I have comes across a restaurant that possesses a unique serenity and a peaceful ambiance which is not modern and captures the essence of South India. The very entrance has some traditional antiques on display and once you get inside, the colourful ceiling and a big dining area makes it a soothing atmosphere.

FOOD:

The menu is varied and we were informed that it has some good South Indian coastal food of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu etc.

DRINKS

Kokum Sherbet – A simple drink made of kokum and some spices. This was pretty nice.

Keraleeyam – A tender coconut milk drink which also had kokum and some good spices, gave a good kick! This was more or less similar to spiced butter milk.

Elaneer – Trying two spiced drinks, this one was one on the sweeter side with a squeeze of lemon. I liked this one to soothe the spicy kicks from previous drinks.

SOUPS:

Kaithahakka rasam – A keralan style spicy and tangy rasam with chopped pineapple. It was quite tasty but didn’t really get any taste of pineapple in the soup itself.

Nandu rasam – A tamarind soup with bits of soft shell crab which was nice too.

STARTERS

Baby corn varuval – It is very rare that you taste babycorn in restaurants that are made in indian style. They are either battered and fried or are a part of Chinese cuisine. This will definitely delight vegetarians as the spices and masalas used made this dish quite tasty.

Kozhi varuval – A chettinad style chicken fry that was lightly spiced and the yellow masala semi-gravy had a creamy consistency. The chicken was tender and had absorbed all the flavors, making this another good dish to try.

Chicken Ghee Roast – For me this was the best dish of the day – the look, the taste, the flavors were all amazing. I love ghee roast chicken since the time I have had it at another popular restaurant that serves mangalorean cuisine. I just loved it and enjoyed every bite of it, it was definitely on par with my previous experience if not above it at least. The specialised masala coated on succulent pieces was something I kept going for. I bet it would’ve tasted even better with a tad bit more of roasting.

Meen pollichathu – Seer fish marinated and steamed in banana leaf in Keralan style. This was a good portion of seer fish and the onion-tomato fried masala coated on the fish and then steamed only packed a punch of flavors. A must try for seafood lovers.

MAINS

Bhindi chilli – Similar red mangalorean masala coated on ladyfingers and fried. This was nice too but not as good as some of the other dishes as the flavors still had to seep through them. It also had absorbed a lot of oil but was indeed tasty.

Raw mango prawn curry – This was my first experience trying this curry and it is pretty different. Tasty, creamy and makes a good accompaniment along with the rice and hot neer dosas we were served with.

Meen kozhambu – A Tamil Nadu style seer fish curry. The red colour was very appealing. I was already full and just had a bite of this curry along with yummy neer dosa and liked it, it was slightly “tomatoey” and need tad bit more time to cook enough.

Fish biryani – The one served to us was a keralan style that has a combo of masala and layers of rice. This is not like your usual biryani and I felt it was okay although Keralan food lovers would like it more. They do have a dum biryani option of other usual biryanis if you would like to try.

DESSERT

Paruppu payasam – A dessert made with moong dal/lentil, jaggery, nuts and of course ghee. It was a nice and simple dessert to end the heavy-duty and tasty meal!

Overall experience:

A good meal becomes an amazing experience when there is fantastic and humble service. I must say every staff, Chefs, Managers were all very well trained, they were aware of most of the dishes and what goes into them and provided us some good information about the said cuisines.

Watching how the appams were made was a treat in itself and will attract the diners to try their hands on.

Lastly, the expectation I had prior to coming here, by the end of the meal was already exceeded. Truly, a must visit place for all you good food lovers. Enjoy!

Food – 4.5/5

Service – 4.5/5

Cost – 4/5