By The Seaside: Chef Manu Chandra takes you through his menu

Mumbai restaurants have always been partial to seafood. And why not? After all, with the island city’s proximity to the Arabian Sea, there is a whole variety of seafood available to us here. And what is not locally available, is now possible because of the pro-activity in terms of trade promotions. Salmon, cod, mussels, octopus, tuna... you name it and our city chefs are sure to have a dish at their restaurant. 

With Dockyard Chronicles, Toast & Tonic at Bandra Kurla Complex has a new seafood menu that celebrates the day’s freshest catch and prepared in a variety of ways that pay homage to age-old crafts and classic techniques of cooking fish and seafood. There’s clams and prawns from Mumbai, calamari from Cochin, trout from Manali, oysters from Vengurla, Sushi grade tuna and lump crab from Sri Lanka; treated in a variety of ways, from raw, to barely cooked, smoked and more. Says chef Partner Manu Chandra Toast & Tonic, “I thought it would be great to do a special menu to showcase the bounty we have in different ways.” 

Chandra adds that with supply chain logistics worked out and new varieties of seafood getting introduced into the market, the consumer has a plethora of choices today. “Mumbai chefs are pretty quick on the uptake and introduce them into their menus,” he says. Have a craving for some yummy seafood? Try one of these and you won’t be disappointed...

Typhoon 8 Pomfret 

Typhoon 8 Pomfret is one of the signatures of the restaurant. Arabian Bay Pomfret is crisp fried with sweetened soy glaze and lots of fried garlic scallions and dried chilli. 
At: Typhoon Shelter, Lower Parel 

Salad of Hay Smoke Mackerel

Locally available mackerel is smoked with rice hay. This is a traditional Goan technique of smoking fish, which the villagers learned from the Portuguese. Chickpeas are also used abundantly in Portugal in various fish salads and often paired with bacalao and used in this salad. It is served with a side of potato crisps or crispy shell taco.
At: O Pedro, Bandra Kurla Complex

Oyster Rockfeller 

While this is a classic dish, chef Manu Chandra has added his own take on it adding local greens and amaranth leaves on the broiled oysters, which are put back on the shells with Gin Hollandaise on top. “It’s creamy and there’s a taste of the sea because of the briny taste of oysters. It’s easy for people who might not be too keen on oysters generally,” he says. 
At: Toast & Tonic, Bandra Kurla Complex

Steamed sticky rice with prawn and mushroom in lotus leaf

This year, the chefs at Yauatcha have reinvented the traditional zongzi, wherein the soft and sticky rice is rolled in the lotus leaf with a crunchy prawn and mushroom filling with oyster sauce. Since the sticky rice dim sum is steamed with the lotus leaf, the dim sum has a strong and distinct aroma and flavour of the lotus leaf. 
At: Yauatcha, Bandra Kurla Complex

Seafood and Mango Paella

In this ‘good for you’ rendition of the traditional Paella, chef Paul Kinny has used barley instead of Spanish rice and includes the season’s freshest catch cooked in a house-made mango sauce with Kashmiri saffron. The finishing touch is a hint of paprika to break through the sweetness. 
At: 212 All Good, Lower Parel 

Seared Scallops

The seared scallops are prepared with bacon, whiskey cream, rocket and parmesan mousse. The dish also includes onion jam and honey sauce. This contemporary dish is served with glazed vegetables, whisky and bacon sauce. 
At: Slink & Bardot, Worli

Activated Charcoal & Crab Xiao Long Bao

This soupy dumpling from the new ‘Travelling Dim Sum’ menu at Shizusan, High Street Phoenix has a unique flavour that combines traditional Vietnamese Pho and crab meat. Activated charcoal is used with wheat starch and potato starch giving a ‘yin and yang’ effect to the Xiao Long Bao.  
At: Shizusan, Lower Parel

Seared octopus with savoury pancake and spicy germulata 

This is a dish Rishim Sachdeva, head chef at Olive Bar & Kitchen, Bandra, picked up whilst travelling through Thailand. The octopus is braised with aromats, berries and white wine. Once nicely cooked and tender, they chargrill it till the edges start to caramelise and take on the burnt flavour. “We pair it with a simple, savoury pancake that has roast garlic (in reasonable amounts, so not to overpower the octopus!) and top it with homemade coriander mayonnaise for freshness and spicy germulata for that spicy kick,” says the chef. 
At: Olive Bar & Kitchen, Bandra

Tuna, Salmon and Assorted Caviar Sushi 

The sushi doughnut is served on a bed of sushi rice and topped with tuna, salmon and assorted caviar.
At: Pa Pa Ya, All outlets