AT the Adinarayan Bhojnalaya on Kirloskar Road, Belgaum, it is entirely possible to have a meal for five hungry people comprising a fish curry and rice, fried fish, prawns masala, stuffed clams, chapatis, and to wash down this meal with Thums-Up for the princely sum of Rs. 300 only.

It is that kind of eatery, unpretentious, serious about its food, and hugely popular in the city. People travel from as far as Goa, Kolhapur and the Konkan region to have its seaffood, the owners, Shirish and Manoj Samant, proudly said. Which is surprising, because it is not as if Goa and the villages in the Konkan region do not have their own little seafood speciality restaurants. They do, and so many, but yet, the meals at Adinarayan are something else.

�The fish is famous here, the chicken and mutton biryanis are well known,� the Samant brothers explained. And indeed, they are, for the waiters scurrying around to fulfill the lunch-time orders are all carrying thalis of either some fish preparation or the biryani. The establishment is old, it was started in 1937 by their great-grandfather Gangaram Samant who came down from Patradevi on the Goa border. That is about as much as you will get of the history of Adinarayan from the smiling Samants. But you do not need to delve too deeply into the past, for this is a restaurant where they serve your order and collect your bill pretty fast, after that you are expected to vacate the table for the next family that has come from Goa!

The restaurant is quite large, it seats 120 at a pinch, and the seating arrangement is granite tables with wooden benches for seats. The menu is terrible, it does not reveal much, but the waiters rattle of the fare of the day with an ease and skill born of long practise. The regulars, of course, know the menu by heart. And they come for the same food every day. But first timers are advised to go by the waiters� recommendations.

The seafood items are obviously the best-selling dishes. Though its board does not suggest as much, the restaurant obviously prides itself on being a kind of seafood eatery. And in seafood, Adinarayan has the Pomfret and Surmai when in season, otherwise there always is Rawas, Kingfish, Prawns, Clams, and a variety of river fish got from nearby including the Murrel, Katta and Rahu. At Adinarayan it is a policy, they will serve only river fish in the monsoon months. Most of the fish comes from the Konkan region. The restaurant has a seafood contractor that supplies it the catch of the day, every day. The rest of what it serves, the Samants buy from the local Belgaum fish market, a small but exciting place, but not known to get the best of fish from the warm coastal waters of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. Either of the brothers does the bazaar, going out to select the fish themselves, that is how particular they are about the quality of the food they serve.

The thalis are what most people call for in Adinarayan. It has a fish masala, a bowl of rice, two chapatis, some local green and leafy vegetable, and sol kadi. The sol kadi is interesting, it is made excatly like how a Goan eatery would make it, and at Adinarayan they are generous enough to give diners an unlimited amount of this kokum drink that serves as an appetiser and digestive both.

The restaurant has just two cooks but the Samants themselves are pretty adept in the kitchen. The brothers know how to cook and even select and grind the masalas for their dishes. �When the owners act as cooks and managers that makes good business sense,� said Manoj Samant.

About 60 per cent of the clientele here is from Goa, the rest is local, including people from Kolhapur. It is the only place for fish in Belgaum, so that is the attraction. Adinarayan is open for lunch and dinner.
Adinarayan Bhojnalaya
1678, Kirloskar Road,
Belgaum 590 001. Tel: 0832 2424851