Around Town: Inside Gourami, a new South Indian restaurant in Powai that’s doing Mangalorean food right

A new restaurant has just opened its doors in Powai — Gourami. There is a global menu with 100 dishes to cater to all moods of the people coming to work and residing in this neighbourhood. But there’s another menu, which puts the spotlight on Southern Indian cuisine, particularly Mangalorean, and it demands that you take a trip there, eat with your hands, and be at ease.

Parked in the same spot where Mini Punjab used to be, Gourami is the result of a year spent travelling through southern India: staying in places, eating in homes, handpicking dishes and masalas across regions. That groundwork shows.

Walk in and you feel it before you fully see it. The brief given by co-founder Harish Shetty, 58, a hospitality industry veteran, to his long-time associate and architect Sujit Kotiyan — a Mangalorean himself — was to recreate what a Mangalorean home looked like seventy to eighty years ago, before electricity. Amber pendant lighting keeps it dim and warm. The ceiling is chattai with layered wooden beams running through it, not POP. Small recessed holes in the wall reference the niches where diyas and kerosene lamps once sat. Wooden barrels hang from the far end of the ceiling, a nod to how rice was stored through monsoon months. The tables, some of which are handcrafted using reclaimed wine corks, are dark wood, seating generous enough that you settle in rather than eat and leave. It’s more refined than rustic — it doesn’t try to look like an actual Mangalorean home, just carry its memory.

Guests are welcomed with a shot of Anna’s Rasam, tangy and properly spiced, and this sets the tone well. There are two menus running simultaneously; we stuck to the southern one, and were glad we did.

The interiors at Gourami draw from a Mangalorean home of seventy to eighty years ago — chattai ceilings, suspended wooden barrels, and amber light doing the work electricity once couldn’t. Photo – Special Arrangement.

The ghee roast preparations are the things to order. We tried paneer, prawns and chicken and can’t pick a favourite — the soul of the dish lies in the masala, made in-house, taking three hours of continuous preparation in ghee. It shows in the depth of flavour. It leans spicy, as it should. The Ghassi is creamy and properly built, pairing perfectly with soft Neer Dosa. Babycorn Urval in chilli and cashew paste was a pleasant surprise, as was crispy Arbi 65 tossed in yoghurt gravy and topped generously with fried curry leaves. The Mangalorean Crab Sukka arrives whole, which is a commitment — the masala is good enough that you want every bit, but it’s worth knowing before you order.

A few dishes didn’t land as well. The Nalku Onde Pizza — one base, four southern toppings — felt like a concept in search of a reason. The idli curry was let down by idlis that hadn’t fermented properly, which is the kind of miss a restaurant built around southern food can’t quite afford. The cocktail menu is still finding its feet.

(L-R) Dindigul Thalappakati Biryani, Mangalorean Ghassi with Neer Dosa (Chicken), and Payasam Brulee. Photo – Special Arrangement.

The Dindigul Thalappakati Biryani brought things back. Slow-cooked for several hours, the chicken beautifully done — it was the kind of dish that makes you stop talking. The desserts are serious too: a tender coconut preparation that holds up against the city’s high standard for it, a payasam brulee with a properly caramelised crust and perfect sweetness, a filter coffee tres leches that earns its place on the menu.

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The ghee here is Nandini, sourced from Bengaluru. The Guntur chilli comes from Guntur. The Chettinad masala is sourced because, as Shetty says plainly, it can’t be replicated. Everything else is made fresh in-house every two to three days. It is a restaurant with a point of view, and for the most part, the kitchen delivers on it.

Would we go again? Yes — to devour the ghee roast and work through a menu that still has a lot left to give.

Where: Gourami, Jogeshwari – Vikhroli Link Rd, near Panch Kutir, Powai

When: Everyday, 12 pm to 1.30 am

Price for two with cocktails: Rs 3,600