Happened to be chatting with Karthik of Gastronomical G-spot the other day and the topic of Ocea came up. Sudhakar has been here quite a few times since his office is just round the corner. He mentioned it to me several times, but for some strange reason we never went there. After the chat with Karthik, our Sunday lunch plans were set. Yes, I know, yet another coastal place in a short span, but realllly... can you come away from a great fish meal without having a goofy look of happiness on your face?
Parking was not much of a hassle, since we "cleverly" parked in Eva Mall and hiked it to the resto. They have a non ac seating area downstairs and some upstairs too. The airconditioned section is up there too and in this heat, there was no doubt about where we were heading. Once settled, we opened the menu and decided to go all the way on fish this fine Sunday afternoon. I (very predictably) headed straight for squid - ghee roast. There was an ample amount of masala on it (would have gone great with beer), the rings were a bit chewy, but it was all in the masala - since we ordered the mains a little late, we had all the time in the world to finger lick this one clean. On the spicier side, but really really really nice.
Squid ghee roast
Sudhakar is as predictable as I am and he asked for the anjal fry. The masala here was thinly coated allowing the fish and its freshness to stand out. The fish was quite a big guy in size. For all of you who by now know how fussy Anoushka is about eating - she had a huge helping of this without needing to pull out a gun, so that speaks volumes for how much she liked it and how good it was.
On the table was also this chutney. Quite vinegary on first taste, but you will notice that it also has some beetroot juice in it. Small bits of carrot were there too. What this chutney did was give an added tangyness to all the fish we were eating.
Anjal fry
The really interesting chutney to the left
I have had two great kappa meen curries till date. One was from Appam Corner and the other was on a house boat in Alleppey (thanks to a pitstop we made at a toddy store). And so when we saw it here, it was more of a mutual agreement. The tapioca that came though was not in the mushed up form we had from the other places and did not have fresh coconut sprinkled on it. But it was tempered and very easy to mash into the bangda fish curry that came with it.
Kappa (tapioca)
The bangda curry had just one large tail piece in it, but it was the gravy that was brilliant. A simple one of onion, tomato, ginger and garlic, but the flavor it packed thanks to the fish being cooked in it was something else. And it went perfectly with the kappa.
Bangda Curry
Anoushka wanted to have her "baby noodles" or idiappam and so we ordered that to go with bangda curry for her. What we did not bargain for was that a plate had seven pieces. And so after two she was done. We didn't need a better excuse and ordered for a fish moilee with seer fish to go with it.
The 7 pieces of idiappam
Seer fish moilee
Ocea sees most of its crowd on weekdays considering its location. That's when you have to go to taste their mussels fry and their fish roe, both of which we wanted but were not available. Unbelievably, this meal came to Rs 785, all inclusive, with a lime soda thrown in. We bowed out of desserts wanting to go home with the spicy taste on our tongues. They do have a regular Indian/Chinese menu too if you like, but then don't miss out on their best offerings by wasting your time with it. The loo is clean.
Address: Next to St Joseph's Commerce College, Brigade road, Bangalore
Phone: 40636261
Cuisine: Coastal, Seafood, Indian, Chinese
Wallet factor: Rs 750 for two
Wallet factor: Rs 750 for two
Parking: Nothing exclusive, look in the bylanes close by
