I have no idea why I haven’t brought up this haunt before, given that it has been one of those places that I have loved dearly over the years; and as I have grown older, its nostalgic value has only risen in my books. The restaurant that I refer to is Rice Bowl, along the stretch that leads from Margao to Colva. The little place, started eons ago by the erstwhile P K Sharma, moved about a couple of times before settling down in its current location.
I refer to my own words a little while ago, wherein I wrote
about P K Sharma, and how in the mid-nineties, he was an institution of sorts
in certain circles of the southern part of Goa. Having started out as a chef in
one of Margao’s popular ‘Chinese’ restaurants, Gaylin, he eventually set out on
his own to open a string of restaurants, almost all of which have been named
Rice Bowl. What makes Rice Bowl interesting is that at the time, through its
various avatars, it was a restaurant that broke away from the notion of Chinese
food needing to be an expensive affair, taking the billing aspect of dining to
the reach of the common man’s purse strings.
Growing up in a Goa devoid of the glitzy restaurants of today,
family outings always happened at Rice Bowl, which was like a second home. As a
result, I shamefacedly admit that one (read me) takes these second homes for
granted, and it gets lost amongst the mountain of work, but has often saved me
at the end of a long day. Dining there earlier this week though resulted in me
realising how dutifully Rice Bowl has served Goa for the better part of the
last two decades, and on this given occasion, I was lucky enough to interact
with both P K and (the pride and joy of P K and his wife, Percita) his son,
Pawan (who I remember as a schoolboy, but is now a dapper, young,
heart-breaking biker who presently runs the establishment almost
single-handedly). The evening made me realise that a lot of people waltz in and
out of our lives, and then, you have some that are constants, for whatever reasons.
The way I like to
start my meals at Rice Bowl is with their ‘Prawn Toast’. Its effectively
batter-coated triangles of bread, with a massive amount of prawn and
finely-diced onion, of which the upper side is covered with toasted sesame
seeds. It’s a heavy starter, and one that will raise the eyebrows of the
health-conscious, but also one that will put a smile on the faces of those that
appreciate good eating.
And of course as is
the case with oriental restaurants in general, one does not go to one and not
order a ‘fried rice’. There are two dishes on this front that I find
un-missable, purely because of the fact that they’re hard to come by elsewhere:
the ‘Chinese Fried Rice’ and the ‘Seafood Fried Rice’. The latter was also
popular on the Gaylin menu when I last visited, but I haven’t been there in a
while. It consists of rice that’s been tossed in a wok, with gravy that has a
few greens and plenty of flavour of the sea in the form of minced prawn and
squid. It’s a lovely marriage of land and sea, really. The ‘Chinese Fried Rice’
on the other hand is a cross between the orient and Europe. It’s a
sparkly-white fried rice with crunchy greens and scallions, along with mushroom
and shredded chicken.
The best
accompaniment for the rice, in my opinion, is the Prawn Black Shanghai/
Mushroom Black Shanghai. I mention these as though they are two different
dishes, because they are. In India, Chinese restaurants allow you the option of
having something in a gravy form or a dry counterpart. And when you do that with
this dish, the options are beasts of very different natures. I find that the
drier variant best suits the mushroom, while the gravy is better suited to the
prawn, both of which sport strong soy flavour.
Now, an absolute
personal favourite of mine at Rice Bowl is a dish that they call ‘Mandarin
Honey Chicken’, and before taking so much as a whisker of a step further, I’ll
admit to all and sundry that this dish is beyond an acquired taste. It’s a
thick and glutinous gravy of sorts (think sweet corn soup in terms of
consistency and colour), with a strong flavour of honey, and strips of
batter-coated chicken. It’s one of those classic ‘love it or hate it’ dishes,
with no middle-ground, and I personally adore it.
All
in all, the food at Rice Bowl is something that I personally find comforting.
It’s flavoursome, easy to eat and is all encompassing in terms of ingredients.
There is a little bit of everything thrown in and that makes it a very homely
style of cuisine, with strong oriental flavours. However, it’s the little bits
and bobs, and the lovely vibe mixed with servings of love and family values
that make it even better; and why it’s a given outlet for me to consistently
eat at.