The Renaissance at Powai is hosting a fish festival ‘Flavours of the Coast’ Festival every night from7 pm on wards, till October 8, 2017. We called phone no. 66928888 for the information we needed.

On September 30, 2017, the opening day of the festival, The Renaissance at Powai invited a few guests to cook along with the 6 specialty Chefs from the various Marriott Hotels along the shores of the Indian Peninsula. Renaissance had laid out 6 tables; one for Mumbai , one table for Goa,  one table for Bangalore,  one table for Kolkata , one table for Kochi  and one table for Tamil Nadu covering  the cuisine of the  7,517 kilometer coastline of India . The specialty Chefs were to guide and merely guide the guests in producing the coastal fish specialty dish.

Under Sous Chef Dinesh Kumar’s (from Chennai) guidance, my friend Vera Pavri and I emerged winners of a proud bottle of wine and chocolates for the ‘Mangalore Fish Curry’ that Dinesh guided us through.

In the recipe menu of this blog, I have shared the quick and easy but absolutely delicious recipe with you.

Even if I say so myself, the curry was so well balanced in its flavours that, the judges voted ours the best dish and Vera, Dinesh and I walked off proud owners of a bottle of wine and a delicious box of chocolates.

Nicholas Dumbell, the General Manager, at the Renaissance of the hotel thought the sauce was really good but liked the Kochi Chicken the most. Chef Sahil Arora one of the judges, an Executive Chef at the Renaissance, went “Wwow!” with the first taste of our red snapper Mangalore curry. Both judges Arora and  Anshuman Bali (Executive Chef, Sahar Marriott), ate a few more spoons of it amidst a lot of ribbing and to our great joy — a tacit encomium to Chef Dinesh Kumar’s prowess. As Swapna Vora a food critic present there said,” they are eating some more! You know, it is so difficult to get a chef to eat.”

Later a number of other hotel staff that tasted all the special fish dishes cooked at the contest found the Mangalore Fish Curry absolutely delicious.

Sous Chef Thirumal from Bangalore, guided the Goa team to cook the Goa prawn curry (which I thought would win), Sous Chef Laxman from Goa, guided the Maharashtra team to cook a Toddy Chicken from Bombay; Kochi Masala Chicken by Sous Chef Vivek from Maharashtra; Sous Chef Saji from Kochi chose to cook a Mustard Fish Curry for the Kolkata team and Sous Chef Himadri from Kolkata chose to make the Tamil Nadu Fish Curry.

Vera and I were particularly glad we parked ourselves at the table for Bangalore cuisine and that the lottery picked the very pleasant and patient Chef Dinesh Kumar for our guide.

Chef Dinesh Kumar obviously has talent for cooking tasty and well balanced dishes. The Mangalore Fish Curry was not the only dish that Dinesh Kumar turned out with adroit ability. Later, while dinning at the specialty fish buffet dinner we were served chicken curry with Dosa from the Tamil Nadu live station, and it was par excellence. Though I am not one for masala food, I absolutely lapped up the admix of flavours, of hot and sour and the fresh herbs Dinesh had used.

I am informed that, unfortunately with the crowd around the prize- winning dish, the photographer was unable to take a picture of the Mangalorean Fish Curry.

The vast Buffet at the Renaissance Flavours of the Coast Festival spoilt its customers for choice. Soups, Salads, live stations (one each for the entire Indian Peninsula), European including Italian cuisine, live fish station with baby lobsters, prawns, pomfret, shark and other fish for you to choose and  cooked to your specifications. Not to forget, the varied Indian flavours of the coast counter which had the chingri masala an absolutely delicious prawn dish from Calcutta, the pepper roast from Goa the various vegetable stews and other lesser known, but delicious, dishes.

Followed by a vast array of desserts; including, but not confined to Cake and Ice creams. Cheese, Crackers, and Nuts, make this a ‘must visit’ for all gourmands.

Don’t miss the Flavours of the Coast festival ….and remember to ask for visiting Sous Chef Dinesh Kumar!