Do you remember when was the last time you sat at a desk and table-alike seating for having your meal? Giri Manjas is all about the rustic experience with a distinctive meal. Situated in the narrow lanes of Mangalore City, this place is not unknown amongst the locals. If you are a tourist, you might want to know that there’s no parking around this place. Taking a rickshaw is the simplest and most budget solution.
Right time to Visit Giri Manjas?
There’s no a particular time when it’s not crowded is what I have been told. Once you are in the place, you’ll be tested for your patience. On a typical day, lunch is very crowded, and no prior booking of seats. People flocking to the hotel which has no waiting area. You’ll need to stick around the door pathway to catch your attention even for reserving a spot. Our patience was tested for nearly 30mins but that was more than sufficient to find what are the most popular dishes people order. A good amount of parcels were placed on the table, probably to be delivered at the home. But we didn’t want to go by that route.
The seating and the Experience at Giri Manjas
All thanks to the ‘we are a tourist’ face, we were guided by a butler from Giri Manjas into the innermost area of this hotel which gave us a broader picture of how this place is. Don’t expect any fancy seating or any other arrangements. Thankfully on this given day, it was pouring rain and it was cool. This place has just a cooler and Fans to snooze the heat.
It is an old-authentic house converted into a massive eatery that can house 35-40 people at a time. The seating is just like a long desk with a bench, a standard popular menu, and serving help. The majority of the people there were originally from the city or knew the local language, we didn’t. So we stuck to Hindi and ordered what we thought would be a popular meal.
Being natively from Goa, there’s no dearth of Fish and Fish variations. Giri Manjhas is famous for the Anjal, and prawn fries and we had no hesitation in going for the same. Below is what the thali looks like, with kinda unlimited serving. The lady in the above picture helped us in explaining every component of the plate.
Not many times do you find them so passionate about the work and she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the work. She focused on everyone in that room to ask if they need anything else from what was served. It’s a great life lesson to learn how to be happy in what you love or the work you are assigned, to deliver with the highest quality.
You can call for extra items from the plate without any charges. Thali was a great start for us and what followed next was one of the best.
Best picks from Giri Manjas
We went lean with our choices. Thali and a side plate for fish. The prawn’s fry and Anjal were delicious and quite different from what we have in Goa or other parts of India.
The red thick gravy makes it special and it’s spicy. Prawns were Rawa fried and were extremely fresh. The place is decently hygienic and the hotel staff ensures it’s kept that way. Overall this place was a great visit.
Obviously due to the smaller seating space, while eating you have people waiting in and around the area of dining, essentially to grab your seat after you are done. That’s the annoying thing, but that’s fine as long as you get food that’s worth every penny. Speaking about the price, it’s slightly on the higher side where in you spend anywhere between INR 900-1000 for 2-3 people.
Keeping all that aside, Giri Manjhas is not about just a place, it is an experience you live swinging into the olden style of eating. I would highly recommend visiting this place for sure.
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- What You Should Try? – Anjal and Prawns Fry besides the Thali
- Location of Giri Manjhas: Link To Google Map
P.s: In case you are in Mangalore, I’d highly recommend visiting one of the rare Jain temples in India – The Varanga Jain Temple– around a 2-hour drive from this place.
Arjun Naik