What: Fusion Fantasea

Where: 14B Anil Roy Road, Southern Avenue (behind Vivekananda Park)

When: Noon to 4.30pm, 6.30pm to 11pm, all days

Bill for two: Rs 700-plus 

Ever dined on a ship with pirates? Or in a haunted house with ghosts and ghouls? Now you can! Step into the three-storeyed 200-seater Fusion Fantasea for a fantasy treat. 

The ground floor looks like a giant aquarium; the first floor, called Welcome to Kwa Zulu, is adorned with life-size figurines of men with hunting instruments; the second floor is done up like a ship, with sails and masts, pulleys and hooks sourced from the Kidderpore dockyard; and the top floor is a hookah bar which will give you the chills. 

The menu includes coastal as well as Himalayan cuisine, from the area stretching from the coastal belt of Kerala, Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra to the hills of Jammu, Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. 

“We wanted to offer our guests a whole range of experiences, so that they keep coming back for more and never get bored,” said Kaushik Ghosh, who started the venture with friends Avijit Saha and Gaurav Basu, the men behind Santa’s Fantasea (Golpark and Salt Lake) that serves tribal cuisine and seafood. 

Text: Deborima Ganguly
Pictures: Rashbehari Das

 

What: The Coastal Macha

Where: 55 Southern Avenue (opposite Southern Avenue swimming pool, next to Atlanta gym)

When: Noon to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm, all days

Bill for two: Rs 1,000-plus

The smell of the salty sea breeze, the roar of the ocean, the warm sunshine on your shoulder... some of the things that make beaches so amazing, along with yummy coastal food. Then you jolt back to the bustling city road you are navigating on way to work. Well, the sand and the surf may be gone, but you have some delish coastal food to fall back on. 

The Coastal Macha, nestled in the leafy Southern Avenue neighbourhood, brings food from Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and also parts of Maharashtra.

The 32-seater has been set up by Sabrina Mukherjee and Piyush Menon, two friends who have spent a long time in Bangalore. “We wanted to bring coastal food to Calcutta though we’re not sure if Calcuttans will take to it well. But when we get customers who had moved to the city from Bangalore a decade ago, and they love our Ghee Roast and call it authentic, it’s worth it,” says Sabrina, who recently got a degree in business management. 

To make it authentic, the ingredients are sourced from the coastal regions. “We bring in special byadgi chillies from Karnataka and black pepper from Kerala that taste completely different. These ingredients give a special flavour to a dish,” says Piyush, who’s from Ernakulam in Kerala, loves to cook and heads the kitchen. 

If you like the food and become friends with The Coastal Macha, know that it’s all there in the name (‘Macha’ is a commonly used term in Bangalore, meaning friend)!

Text: DG
Pictures: Arnab Mondal