Crabulous

If you are what you eat, it8217;s easy to emerge looking like a crustacean from the Crab and Wine festival from October 6-26 at Mahesh Lunch Home...

Eight-legged beauties that are the talk of the town

If you are what you eat, it8217;s easy to emerge looking like a crustacean from the Crab and Wine festival from October 6-26 at Mahesh Lunch Home , Juhu. The good part is that on a totally full stomach, one doesn8217;t care much about looks.

Every year in October, for seven years now, Suraj Shetty of the Juhu branch has been organising this festival. 8220;Although we start during Navratri period, we get lots of people. At times, it8217;s even difficult to get a table,8221; says Shetty, who is from a family of restaurateurs. He runs several other restaurants in and around Juhu but the most famous is this Mangalorean joint. And the most famous on their menu is Prawn gassi. The next in line is crab.

8220;The emphasis is on South-East Asian preparations. They eat crab heartily,8221; Shetty tells us. Going by the reactions from the American tourists at the adjoining table, he8217;s probably right. They are visibly excited when glorious eight-legged beauties are shown to them at their table. 8220;Not just from the adjoining JW Marriott, we get crowds from as far as south Mumbai. A lot of foreigners come in to try South-Indian food,8221; Shetty says.

It8217;s good to begin on an empty stomach. They have an elaborate menu, with crab preparations from all over. There8217;s Crab Tempura, Vietnamese caramelised crab, Kitam Bungkus crab meat wrapped in banana leaf, Sri Lankan spicy roasted crab, Drak Arik Kepting Stir fried crab with egg and others. There are the usual Indian specialties too. One can choose from preparations local to the Coromandel, Malabar and Konkan coast respectively.

For those who like to skip the hard work of scraping out crab meat from the shell, they have something called Crab kofta. Tennis-ball sized balls of fresh crabmeat, rolled in batter and deep fried. It8217;s good but tends to make you feel heavy too soon. Plus, as manager Manoj Nirgun tells us, 8220;There is no joy in eating crab without shell. Eating crab should be like an experience that you remember long after you get up from the table.8221; In that spirit, it8217;s also best to eat crab with your fingers. Keep aside the pliers and pins they give you and get on with it.

The prices are between Rs 600-800 and the helpings generous. To make matters more celebratory, there8217;s also a glass of wine complimentary with every dish.