I must say that this is one of the few places in Mangalore that actually invested a lot in the décor. The entire place has a rustic look and is done up in cane and bamboo. As you enter you see a huge bullock cart (yes! Without the bull), a table is laid out with utensils of yesteryears, the one’s our grandmothers possibly used over open fire. At another end is a fake well complete with the steel water vessel and a draw rope. All seating arrangements are cane and the plates and cutlery are copper lined. The wait staff is attired in white lungis and the whole place has a nice feel to it. There is a mezzanine floor that is done up entirely in thatch and looks quite interesting. The view is nice and the breeze natural.

The thatched mezzanine floor

The seating arrangements and the staff attire

We started off with some lime juice, which thankfully turned out to be the real deal and not those sorry lime cordials or cheap lime concentrates that’s stirred up with water and served. Guthu has a huge multi-cuisine menu, specialty restaurants are a rarity in Mangalore. However, the end of the menu had some of the traditional Kodial offerings.

Lime juice - the real deal

Amongst the interesting combo meal offers was the Kori Rotti which dad opted for. I wanted to have the Semige with kori curry but they told me that it was not available and so I settled for the neer dosa and chicken curry combo. Mom decided at home that she would have a vegetarian thali with our standard red boiled rice (you have the option of raw rice) and once she decides there is no changing her mind.

The rotti came first as did the plate of neer dosas (around 6 to a plate). Dad and me each got a steaming pot of chicken curry. Each pot had around 6 generously sized pieces. The gravy was made with a healthy quantity of coconut milk and hence the heavenly taste. And added to that the fact that it was steaming hot. I ended up ordering another plate of neer dosa and a nice thing was you could specify how many more you wanted. Yummmmyyyyy!!!

Rotti - nice and crisp

The steaming hot yummy chicken curry

Neer dosa and the chicken

Mom's thali came with chapathis, an aloo sabzi garnished with spring onions!!, a dal, rice, another vegetable whose name I forget and the usual accompaniments of papad, pickle and chutney. There was also a fancy glass of buttermilk. The thali also comes with an ice-cream at the end.

The veg thali

For dessert I went in for the cliched gulab jamun which was nice without being spectacular. Dad had another standard for him - fruit salad with ice-cream, which looked very nice.

Standard fare - gulab jamun

Fruit salad with ice-cream

The service is spot on. The bill for all this really made me smile... it was in the Rs 550 range. The loos at this place were clean and I really loved the big sized copper kadais that were used as washbasins. This is one place I would love to visit again for a good Mangalorean non-veg meal.