Has food ever been the decisive factor that has made you choose your destination? Well, it has for me. I have waited in lines outside street food vendors that were famous overnight, I have walked in the heat to try that one local dish that I read about in a magazine and more recently, I have planned a short weekend break to Coorg - just because I wanted to try the Pandi Curry!
Coorg has always been a place on my list but I kept waiting for that leave approvals during the monsoons. A friend of mine had been there a couple of years ago and had first posted about the Pandi Curry from the famous Coorg Cuisine and I knew I wanted to have a meal there.
This year when I was back home in Goa (remote working), I found myself thinking of Coorg again. And once Gordon Ramsay made the Pandi Curry (If you don't know what I am talking about - check out Unchartered ). So, when the Holi weekend came calling I couldn't help but convince my mother and our driver to take me to Coorg - even if it was for 2 days.
Goa to Coorg is about 12 hours on the road, and if you are around the western coast right now, you will know how the heat just makes you want to die. But the determination for my Pandi Curry was not to die.
So, the day came where I finally ended up at the iconic restaurant and ordered that pork curry that I had been waiting for. I must say, what impressed me right away was how clean Coorg Cuisine was and given the world we live in - that is such a big factor.
The restaurant is in the main Madikeri town right opposite the Post Office. In a first glance you can tell that it is a genuinely local place and the food will be authentic. Apart from the clean tables, I loved that the service was quick and their menu was old -fashioned telling stories. Of course it had a section dedicated to the Kachampuli berry that is the 'main component' of the famous Pandi Curry.
When that dish arrived, I think it did not take me more than 15 minutes to lick off the entire serving. The funny thing about me is that on a normal day - I eat like a normal person. But when I am in the mood - I am equally capable of finishing a meal for two by myself.
But can you judge me? Doesn't that look delicious?
I followed that meal with a 'Bella Kapi' which was local roasted coffee with jaggery. The one disappointed in my Coorg mini-trip was that despite the coffee plantations all around me, I did not have a satisfactory cup of coffee. The 'Bella Kapi' I had at Coorg Cuisine was a mild coffee and sweet and I treated it like a dessert liqueur that one would get served at a fancy place.
For vegetarians, I would still recommend this place, cause while I may have obsessed about the Pandi Curry, the restaurant's winning quality was the flavour of the land - authentic local food. They had quite a few vegetarian options in their menu and I was told that the 'Baimbale' or the tender bamboo shoot was a local favourite.
Have you ever been to a place just to try a local dish? Leave comments below with your stories!