There are a lot of great things to do in and around Fort, from visiting the RBI’s Coin Museum, to being shooed of by Navy guards because there’s a Pokestop right in front of the main gate, to accidently giving wrong directions to tourists. But there’s one thing we totally overlook when we think about Fort, the Food. Fort isn’t just a fancy place for rich people to walk their toy dogs; it’s primarily an office space for many government bodies, and the Reserve Bank of India (which isn’t actually part of the government). And while they’re not working, they’re eating. Rather well it would seem.
If there’s one thing that government employees love more than their chai and portraits of Gandhi, it’s a reasonably priced yet thoroughly scrumptious lunch. And it just so happens that’s exactly what Canara offers. From the outside it’s a really easy place to miss, it seems like another tiny, obscure eating house surrounded by other tiny obscure eating houses. But once you step in it’s so much more. Firstly, it’s actually pretty big, there are two A/C sections and one general section. The general section is a bit cheaper but just as nice a place to eat, it’s pretty clean, the staff are friendly and don’t correct you when you mispronounce bombil.
All their food is most likely incredible, and there’s literally 200 items on the menu, but we decided to go with seafood because it’s the monsoon and what’s the worst that could happen. Needless to say we were impressed.
The Crab Masala
Price: Rs.180
The crab masala was served in a spicy, tangy, South Indian masala that almost tasted like a spicy pickle. Almost. The crab itself was succulent and juicy; feel free to eat a bit of the shell, it’s just that good.
Bombil fry
Price: Rs.140
The bombil fry was fresh and crispy, one of the better bombil fry dishes we’ve come across. Don’t forget to add some lemon. The green chutney served was the best part of the whole dish, don’t just dip the bombil in the chutney, immerse the damn thing.
Tisrya Masala Fry (Clams)
Price: Rs.220
The tisrya was a personal favourite, it was spicy but you could still taste the coconut. The portions Canara served us were a little too fair; by the end it looked like we’d stolen all the sea shells at Juhu beach, try not to swallow a shell while you’re in a feeding frenzy, it happens more often than you think.
Prawn Koliwada
Price: Rs.180
The prawn Koliwada was nice and crisp, Canara doesn’t hold back with the size of their servings, it was a bit spicy and slightly sour. The prawn when surprisingly well when we dipped it in the crab masala, somebody really ought to invent a prawn Koliwada masala.
Let’s not forget, Canara Fort is still a bar. It would be blasphemous not to order an Old Monk and Coke on the side. The alcohol is pretty cheap and goes really well with the seafood. But then again, alcohol goes well with almost anything.
