Restaurant Review — Fish Curry Rice in Pune


Pune is synonymous with lovely weather and youth, but not necessarily with ‘great’ food. Food is good here, with small joints in every nook and corner catering to an overwhelmingly young crowd – both college-going and those working in the IT/ITES sector. It is also reasonable priced, any day, compared to Mumbai. Why. Most of the popular chains like Mainland China, Out of the Blues etc. have similar menu at lower prices – thanks to lower realty prices here.

If you look hard enough though, you will find some authentic restaurants, albeit small ones, which are quite good and total value-for-money. We will try and cover some of them in the blogs going forward … starting with one called ‘Fish Curry Rice’.
Do we need to say what type of food it serves? But hey, it’s not the easiest of outlets to find. Situated in the narrow lanes of Narayan Peth, it is an authentic local seafood restaurant that has won the Times Food Award for the Best Coastal Food in 2012 & 2013! No small feat by any standards.

We went there on a Sunday evening around 8pm and had to wait for about 20 mins. Mind you, the waiting time got worse by the time we left the place around 10pm. The restaurant has about 10 odd tables, so be ready for a long wait during peak hours. But what surprises you once inside is that though it small, it is very clean. The menu card is old just like the ones you find in any old Konkani seafood joints in Bandra (E), Mumbai. It is not very exhaustive, with limited starters and main courses. We opted for the Special Fish Thali and weren’t disappointed. The Thali came with a choice of Fish Fry (Surmai & Pomfrets recommended), fish curry (choice of Mackerel and a local variety), Prawn Sookha & Pomfret/Prawn masala. It’s a lot of fish!! Accompaniments are Solkadi, Rice & Bhakhri – a thin bread made from rice flour which goes excellent with seafood. Two of us opted for ala carte – Crab Masala & Prawn Sookha with Bhakhris.

The food is excellent and total value-for-money. At 500 bucks for the ‘special’ thali – you will be more than satiated and in ‘Food Heaven’. The Prawn Sookha and Crab Masala are superb, so are the Pomfret & Surmai fry. I would recommend you give the Mackerel Curry a miss. The Pomfret Curry, too, is just okay. The servings are big, especially the fish portions and you cannot complain about the service which is really efficient and friendly. At 1700 bucks for 4 adults + 1 child, we will be back for sure in our next visit to Pune.

Head to Fish Curry & Rice when you are in Pune and do give us your feedback. Cheers !