New restaurant alert: Relish homestyle seafood at Andheri's The Mackerel Story

Tucked among storefronts on a busy pavement on New Development Road in Andheri East is The Mackerel Story a monthold seafood restaurant espousing a freshnessfirst mantra As we push past the glass doors under its blue nautical logo of two anchors and a model of the fish that lent the eatery its name the ample green of the interiorsmdashthe chairs the booths on one side the foliageinspired wall art on the leftmdashare a relief to the eyes after the glaring sun outsideDressed in smart casuals with cropped hair owner Bhakti Muslunkar is waiting for us accompanied by chef Prasad Parab who has helped design the concept and curate the menu of the restaurant Muslunkar owns a farm in Guhagar about six hours by road from Mumbai where she grows turmeric kokum cashews mangoes pineapples cabbage capsicum rice nachni khapli wheat and jowar ldquoWe source 70 to 75 per cent of our ingredients for the restaurant from the farm which are produced without the use of chemicalsrdquo she tells usBhakti Muslunkar and her son Kshitij were keen to start a restaurant that offered the taste of homestyle food and fresh catchThe idea of the restaurant grew out of a need to offer nutritious food with the taste of homestyle cooking that was ldquonot boringrdquo and fresh fish that is bought each morning A major contributor to this last part we learn is Shivpoojan who we meet at the restaurant and who has been buying fish for the Muslunkars for the past eight years scouring the markets at Bhaucha Dhakka Sassoon Docks Crawford Market and Naigaon as early as 4 am every dayldquoMost restaurants have a readymade curry served with fish such as rawas prawns pomfret and surmai We decided to oppose that choosing instead to serve separate curries for each type of fish to bring out their flavoursrdquo Parab tells us A decision was also made about only serving the fresh catch of the day and not feeling compelled to serve all customers who turned up by offering them frozen fish once the fresh stocks had run outAs a result the number of thaalis that are served on a day is limited and Parab helpfully offers that the best thing to do is to call in advance to inquire about the availability of the kind of seafood one would like to eat Muslunkarrsquos son Kshitij a BBA student who has now joined the family jewellery business informs that this is their second restaurant venture after Nav Kayastha Pangat in Ville Parle East which serves authentic CKP cuisine There are also plans to open a third seafoodfocused eatery in Marol later this yearWhile the food tastings have been a highlight of the past month the challenge for the owners has been to get the recruits in the kitchen to approach food differently by changing attitudes around ingredients and practices Muslunkar has also been working with the local women at Guhagar to source fresh handground masalas and cereals for the restaurantBut why name the restaurant after the humble bangda ldquoMackarel is a gareebo ka fishrdquo Parab agrees ldquoYou donrsquot get it in Mumbai Here the poor mainly eat bombil and mandelirdquo It is a delicacy in Malvan where he hails from and where it is eaten at home alongside other fish such as tarli and saundaleThe zafrani crab shells have a delicate balance of flavours and a 35minute prep time PicsAtul KambleThere is also an assumption Muslunkar points out that cheaper fish cannot be as good ldquoWe realised that people in rural areas work for hours in the heat and eat mackerel which becomes a good source of protein So we decided to introduce it here with ragi bhakris or ghavne and neer dosardquoTheir aim in the coming months she says is to serve small fish such as parva kane and small bangda which are usually eaten at home during the monsoonsmdashand not pomfret or surmaiIn India where mackerel is mainly exported Parab also speaks of the need to create awareness around the dangers of overfishing Citing the example of the Chilean government which has passed numerous regulations to protect atrisk species including implementing restrictive fishing quotas and bans on harvesting and selling fish during breeding seasons he speaks of the need to generate interest in other varieties ldquoI donrsquot know if my children are going to be able to eat pomfret in another 10 years When we stop offering people will stop eatingrdquoWhile we sip on a light kokum drink the first item to be brought out is a plate of tandoori crab momos Rs 599 made of wholewheat flour where the momos are steamed first and then placed in the tandoor Itrsquos a bestselling dish we are told but we prefer the zafrani crab shells Rs 759 with its delicate balancing of flavours The item has a 35minute prep time during which the crabs are cut cleaned marinated roasted in a tandoor and broken to retrieve the soft meat that is placed in the shells and put again in the oven It canrsquot be made in advance as crabmeat turns rubbery ldquoPeople will just have to wait for some things Itrsquoll be no fun if itrsquos not freshrdquo Parab tells us We also try the Multani crab claws Rs 459 which are creamy and yet unexpectedly light but somewhat difficult to manoeuvre in a restaurantThe Malgudi mackerel Rs 299 surprisingly one of only three mackerel items on the menu arrives next caked lightly in a garlic madras onion and curry leaves tawa fried masala inspired by the flavours of Telangana Karnataka and Kerala Byadagi chillies add sweetness and give the dish its bright red colour We move on to some crispy spinach prawns Rs 595mdashan item not on the menu but recommended by staff based on customer tastemdashwhich pleasantly balances the sweetness and softness of the prawns with the crunchy saltiness of the spinachThe last stop is the surmai thaali Rs 499 an elaborate fare with both fried and curried surmai served alongside wholesome palak bhaaji rice ricejowarnachni bhakri three types of chutneymdashmint raw mango and dried coconut with peanutsmdashand a fragrant solkadi There is aamras for dessert made with mangoes from Muslunkarrsquos farm Since people prefer not to eat milkbased foods after seafood there are plans to introduce appe made of rava coconut and sugar gehu ki kheer and patole with fresh coconut and jaggery in banana or turmeric leaves Muslunkar has thus far refused to have gulab jamun or shrikhand on the menu as they are far too common and has also resisted the inclusion of cold drinks although the younger customers keep asking for them ldquoPeople need to stop consuming those thingsrdquo she laughsWHERE Shop No1 New Development Road Opp Takshila Society Gate No2 Andheri E