Twisted Fish doesn’t make a  promising first impression. It’s  located on a dingy stretch of  road known for its shady bars,  shadier hotels and a stubborn  bovine population that make a  habit of napping in the middle of  the road. Don’t bother trying to  honk them into coercion, like we  did to evict a dozing buffalo from  a parking spot, You’ll only be met  with holier-than-thou looks – from  the shopkeepers, paanwalas and  assorted weirdos loitering about –  and the cattle couldn’t care less. 

The restaurant too, seems a  bit dated: there are wallpapered  ceilings, sofas upholstered with  heavy, magenta fabric and Bryan  Adams and Lionel Ritchie crooning  in the background. At our table,  complete with origami napkins,  our mustachioed waiter handed  us a heavy, bound menu like the  ones favoured by Jai Hind and  Gokul. Let that be your first cue. 

Twisted Fish is run by two  Mumbai-bred Mangalorean  brothers and like most other  establishments run by the Shetty  clan, serves food ranging from  murgh makhani and makai paneer  to Hyderabadi biryani and butter  garlic shrimp. Ignore them all and  focus your attention instead on  the short selection of coastal fare  they offer. Better still, get yourself  a stiff rum and coke and make your  way through the list like we did. 

Few bar snacks bring out the  sweet, soothing flavour of Old  Monk like a slab of fiery fish fry. At  Twisted Fish, the surmai isn’t flourcoated  and then deep-fried within  an inch of its life. Instead, the  slices are slathered with a simple  paste of chilli powder, turmeric  and salt, and then tawa fried until  the protein is cooked and not a  minute longer, so the fish takes  on a buttery texture. Encouraged,  we called for the ghee roast, Goan  pomfret curry, a couple of neer  dosas and, just to give the north  Indian section a chance, the  chatpata murgh as well. 

The ghee roast is a fire cracker  of a dish from Udipi made with  chicken, dry spices, curry leaves  and far too many chillies cooked  in ghee, which mellows the spice  levels. Twisted Fish’s version is  kind of a sukka meets ghee roast  so it had thick, coconutty gravy  (as opposed to a chilli-based  masala) that we sopped up with  our delicate dosa, pausing briefly  to sample the rubbish chatpata  murgh before getting another  round of rum that led to a bout of  Lionel Ritchie impersonations. 

Other southern favourites on  the menu include kori roti – a  Mangalorean number comprising  chicken (kori) curry served on a  bed of wafer-thin, rice roti – crab  gassi, mutton sukke and puli  munchi, a Kerala curry made by  cooking sardines with plenty of  tamarind and red chilli powder. 

Twisted Fish’s traditional  offerings are likely to excite and  then mildly disappoint those who  have grown up in South India.  The food isn’t high on regional  authenticity but it is delicious in a  high-spice, coconut-flecked, curry  leaf-smacked kind of way. Our  Goan curry for instance, lacked  the tang of vinegar but the cuts  of pomfret were very generous  and the curry was flavourful. Our  portion (R180) would have easily  sated three hungry tummies. 

That being said, Twisted Fish,  doesn’t have enough going for  it to last long (not in this sort of  neighbourhood) which is why we  recommend you make the most of  it while it’s still around. They plan  on starting home delivery soon,  so you can tuck into a fishy feast  without having to encounter the  pedestrian woes of buffalos and  Bryan Adams.  

THE BILL