Mumbai's Greatest Seafood Hits

Clams, squid, prawns, lobsters, crabs, and fish, rubbed with a spicy red masala or spiked with a green masala or simmered in a thick fragrant coconut gravy: that's the way seafood is eaten on the western Konkan coast of India, in seaside homes from Mumbai to Mangalore and Goa. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants across the city, offering typical homestyle Konkan fried fish or fish curry- or prawn gassi-and-rice meals, have always done the briskest business and have some of city's finest food. Everybody in Mumbai has their favorite seamy dive for gorging on seafood.

If you are a foodie and an avid seafood wallah (afficianado), help make your Bombay trip memorable by sampling the best of Konkan seafood cuisine.

First, here's a list of what to dig into:

Prawn gassi: small prawns simmered in a thick, tangy, spicy coconut gravy

Prawn curry: thinner than a gassi, with kokum (a sour berry)

Masala prawns: prawns marinated in garlic and spices and then pan-fried

Teesri masala: tiny clams cooked in a dry cocunut masala

Bombay duck bombil: this watery fish is first squeezed out and then batter-fried with semolina; it's light and flaky

Surmai, pomfret, and rawas: these three famous, fleshy fish of this region are either marinated and fried or popped into a curry

Masala crab: crab cooked in thick, almost dry, green or red masala

Neer dosa: a light crumpled soft-rice dosa meant especially for eating with seafood

Kori roti: a dry, crumbly rice roti

Appam: a Kerala-style steamed kind of dosa available in some Konkan joints

And here is a selection of good seafood restaurants, both low-down and ritzy:

Konkan Café (Taj President hotel, 90 Cuffe Parade. 22/6665-0808). If you're not interested in hustling to find the best seafood in town, then the closest approximation of traditional Konkan curries and fried fish can be had at the swanky Konkan Café.

Gajalee (Hanuman Rd., Vile Parle East. 22/2616-6470). Famous for their stuffed crab, fried bombil, surmai kurkure (crunchy fish), prawns ambat tikhat (dry masala); traditional Maharashtrian seafood can be found here. Another branch is at Phoenix Mills.

Apoorva (S. A. Brelvi Rd., off P. M. Rd. 22/2287-0335). This is a humble spot to stuff yourself silly with oyster curry, masala squid, fish curry, mackerel fry, bomil fry, and neer dosa.

Ananthashram (Kotachiwadi, Girgaum. No phone). This Mumbai culinary landmark is as traditional and authentic eatery as you can get. This staunchly "unfancy" comes with brusque service, but also some of the tastiest surmai curry, surmai fry, prawn curry, and teesri masala in Bombay. Its clientele is testimony to that—famous film stars and city notables hunt this place down to have an asli (real), satisfying seafood feed.