#blahvsfood goes to Mahe in Anjuna

I went to Mahe at Anjuna and was seriously stunned with the food I ate. There are very few chefs in India that are balancing creativity and comfort. To do so while cooking food that is clean in its flavours, where the technique shines through whether curing or searing, where you can taste every single element that goes into a dish, where the flavours are full bodied but light is something that is exceptionally rare, something that less than 10 chefs in India can pull of with any degree of consistency. It blows my mind that chef Sandeep Sreedharan was a management consultant and until just a few years ago. After eating his cooking I feel that this guy is not one of India’s top emerging chefs, with the confidence and the ability to put together a great menu that he’s right up there in the top echelon and so is the restaurant.

I know that I will get the usual scepticism because this isn’t a restaurant that is on the map in terms of national PR and buzz but honestly that has never bothered me. Whether it was Indian Accent or Bomras or Masque or Bombay Canteen or Atomix or Disfrutar or chefs like Hussain and Vanshika, I have always been fortunate that the places and chefs I have loved and believed in have always grown on to find great success and recognition. Food awards and the supposed food writers in India often follow trends and what they read, talk about places after they have already popped and cling on to their praise even after they have stopped being special. That whole space has no interest for me. I trust my own judgement and Mahe is a special, special place. Great bar programme. Exceptional food.

I ate:

Cured Mahi Mahi, Coriander Oil, Komdattam

Red snapper ceviche with spiced coconut milk 

Preserved aubergine recheado with Poie
Tapioca bravas with shallot chilli aioli

Roast beef, pickled radish, kombu jus

Slow cooked mackerel with plums

Pradhanam Panacotta

panacotta