GadBad @ Mangalore !!

I had GadBad !

And here is the proof!!

GadBad = a tall ice cream cup filled with one scoop Vanilla + one scoop strawberry + one scoop butter scotch and sandwiched in between these scoops are fresh cut fruits + generous amount of dry fruits + Jelly + Tuttti Frutti.  Looks awesome, taste heavenly and sinfully delicious!!

The butter scotch scoop is way on top of the cup and it is overflowing the rim. I have a strong urge to lean forward and lick it off.

BUT,

I sense a stern glance of disapproval from a nearby pair of eyes that has clearly read my mind. So, I get down to slowly scraping the trickles from the rim with a long-stemmed spoon.

The experience at Ideal Café is amazing. 

Packed with people it still looks spacious and airy and un-crowded. Filled with young teenagers and coeds making the whole atmosphere vibrant & lively!

And the food – Neer Dosa with shocking red paneer masala + Mangalore Bun with green chilli spiced coconut chutney + GabBad  =  2300 Cals !

Enough to keep you going for the entire day.

And instead of stopping right there, we continued to eat more throughout the day – enthusiastically egged by a constant stream of WhatsApp msgs advising us where to eat & what.

So we continue with the City Bakery for Macroons and Ragi biscuits, ThindiMane for Chips, The Balli Shop for Biscuit Roti (Regular and Sweet) and Bonda and Bhajji, Kamath Condiments for Charmuri before finally calling it a day with a sumptuous dinner of Hot Parathas and Curd rice !

And that was not even one tenth of the list we got (a list of 45 must eat dishes and food joints to visit in Mangalore). 

We also missed the Halli Mane Rottis, Mangalore’s popular food truck run by single mother Shilpa. Chk it out??

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/meet-woman-behind-halli-mane-rotties-mangaluru-s-popular-food-truck-73900

And it was not just Food, Food and Food only.

We had an unending series of religious and spiritual feast all along the way.

And if I did a one to one match of all the must-go food stops with temple stops, I am sure the food stops will run out of options very soon!

Yes, Mangalore has lots and lots of temples. Small and medium format ones, with small

gopurams and built mainly in wood with ornate carvings, some with Kerala style architecture. All of them are very well maintained, freshly painted gopurams, renovated with polished granite flooring.

Some are very Old heritage temples maintained with care like the Sharavu Ganapathi Temple and Kadri Mamnjunatha temple which are more than a thousand  years old!

Kolam Stencils  &  Kollattam @ Udupi Temple 

The Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple, the Udupi Sri Krishna Temple, The Gokarna Mahabaleshwara temple all have similar architecture.

Small gopurams and small real estate inside – unlike the huge, massive granite temples of Tamil Nadu.

But the majestic Murudeshwara temple gopuram makes up for all their lack of height! At 250 Ft it is the tallest gopuram as per wiki.

Murudeshwara temple is beautiful, very clean and spotlessly maintained. And the Gopuram is renovated with a lift going all the way up 18 floors to the top for a viewing gallery!

Awesome sight of the 150ft high Majestic Shiva against the Arabian sea background and the beaches on either side.

And we bought aarathi tickets, performed elaborate archanas, drank many portions of holy water and collected loads of fragrant chandan paste. I am sure we would get a AAA+ credit rating in Lord Yamaraj’s ledger!!

And we spent many hours inside these temples to soak in the serene ambiance and absorbed as much ‘god particles’ as we could.  

And that should keep us fully charged up with saintliness & piety to get us going for at least 6 months into the new year.

Back to Majestic Mangalore.

Quaint city, some parts modernized, and many sections frozen in time.  The overpowering smell of dried fish takes away some of its charm though (for me in particular)

Good regulated traffic, good roads, no garbage and even the auto drivers appear well groomed and respectful!! Also, no constant screaming sounds of racing ambulance nor road jams to facilitate VIP entourage! Maybe because it was weekend??

Surprising. NO beggars anywhere. None near the temples or outside food joints or on the beaches or at traffic lights!!

Surprising. NO stray cattle, mangy dogs, overflowing garbage bins.

Surprising. Every third shop in Hampankatta is a Jewellery shop! And on the busy KSR Road every fourth shop seemed to be selling footwear!!

Not Surprising. Very pleasant and attractive looking girls with glowing complexion and dressed in a variety of bright Indian attire. I think they also appear taller than our average Bangalore girls – the dress factor, probably?

Did not see any faded jeans-tank top conbo nor streaked hair anywhere.

Surprising. Clean beaches with soft golden sand. Very unlike the Marina, Chowpatty, Miramar and Kovalam beaches. No trash anywhere, no dirty looking sea weeds nor squishy dead jellyfish.

 The beach sand glows beautifully in the bright overhead sun and does not have the black streaks that you find in the other beaches.  Even the area around the fishing boats &  stacked up fishing nets are super clean!!

Rating 10 for the beaches and all the folks there and the maintenance staff!!

Jewellery. We were tempted to walk into the Canara Jewellers (Govt. approved) showroom.

‘Show us some typical Mangalore style jewellery’ – I request.

And we got a huge chunky necklace – big and broad enough to amply cover the chest of that well-built Joy Allukka model!!

And in my mind, I thanked God for not marrying a Mangalorean girl.  Else this piece alone would have set me back financially by a couple of months!

There were some good coral and precious stones studded sober ones too.  However, the gold does not glitter brightly, like the ones at GRT or Tanishq. Maybe folks here prefer matte finish.

At Car street :

The Ballis doing brisk business.

And the 1942 (Pre-Independence) flower market

And Mangalore Mallige – each 8-inch strand costs Rs180/-

Thindimane on Kadri Road  - Crispy Banana Chips and Dryfruit halwa keeps you craving for more. Yeh Dil Mangey More!!

And there was not enough time for anything more.

And for those of you who plan to visit Mangalore, you must plan for at least 4 days.

Day 1: go Beach Bumming

Day 2: go berserk on food – veg / non-veg/ sea food

Day 3: Check out the temples or try out water sports at the numerous beaches.

Day 4: Shopping!!

And if you have not smoked all your credit cards, then you did not have  great fun!!

Krish..