This place is located inside Hotel Sarah International in Manipal. Having opened recently, Ginger Garlic provides a wide range of cuisines under one roof, although they speak very highly of their coastal concoctions. I was lucky enough to get invited alongside a few of my foodie friends, as well as a lot of students from Manipal for a sort of mini-launch party.
Coming to the food, we had a very wide spread, courtesy the large number of people in the group. Also, there was some seafood festival going on, so many items here are from their special seafood menu. Let me go into the finer details of all these dishes (Not explaining the ones I didn’t taste)
We were welcomed with a Kiwi Cooler, made up of Kiwi Crush and Sparkling Water. This was quite refreshing.
Mocktails – I need to give a special mention to their mocktails, as I don’t know what they put in it, but it tasted like nothing I’ve ever had before. It was so delicious, I managed to gulp down two!
Prawns Cocktail – Great presentation, but I did not try it out due to my allergy
Grilled Pomfret – A delicious Continental preparation, served with a portion of rice and veggies
Grilled Anjal – Similar to the Grilled Pomfret plating, however with Seer/King fish
Prawns Koliwada – Did not try this item due to my prawn allergy
Chicken Tawa – A unique tasting dish, worth ordering once. It was tangy and spicy, quite fingerlicking.
Bangude Rawa – A decent sized Mackerel, deep fried with a semolina coating. Typical coastal Mangalorean style.
Hariyali Bangude/Prawns – This dish was supposedly so good, that it did not even reach my plate. It was empty in seconds!
Marwai Pundi – Managed to taste only the pundi, which was quite tasty, however the marwai was apparently not fresh as the shells were still intact
Alle Piao Gashi – To be honest, I did not like this dish much. Being a GSB, this is one dish that I’m quite used to eating at home and hence have my benchmark. Sadly, a disappointment.
Squid Ghee Roast – Did not manage to get my hands on this dish too
Prawns Ghee Roast – Could not try this out due to my prawn allergy
Chicken Ghee Roast – When it comes to Chicken Ghee Roast, I have really high standards, so I was hoping they don’t mess this up. However, I just loved this dish! It was amazing.
Fish Amritsari – Did not manage to get my hands on this dish
Fish Cigars – This item is always risky, as it can either go right or horribly wrong. Surprisingly however, this one was right in the middle.
Fish Biryani – The fish biryani was an amazing dish overall, as the rice was very aromatic and tasty. However, the entire dish would have tasted better had they chosen to have Anjal fish in it, instead of Basa which is more suited to continental food. Nonetheless, it was very tasty!
Shrimp Dynamite – Good presentation, but did not taste it due to my allergy.
All in all, it is a fresh change to the dining scene in Manipal, which usually consists of small eateries, pubs or similar kind of places. This is a place where you can dine in luxury, without necessarily spending exorbitantly. Oh, and for the hic-happy folks, they serve alcohol too!
You can find the place here