The Kolahapuri "Opal"

This Blog was in Draft for a long time , just could not finish it through we tried it a lot.

(Every time we sat to write about it the taste of Spicy food just hits you and then you are hungry…)

The Hotel in Discussion is “The Opal” from Kolhapur City. The Hotel is there since 1968 (46 Years !!)

Kolhapur  - famous for Malalaxmi Mandir , Misal and Spicy food , was just a stop in our Tarkarli Holidays.

We are glad that we took the decision of staying a night at Kolhapur otherwise our taste buds would have cursed us for not getting to know “the OPAL” food.

The First look of the Hotel was not very promising they were currently in process of some civil work in front of the Hotel and it made just entering the facility a difficult task. We had a good feedback from friends which lead us to overcome these initial hiccups.

The Hotel has been awarded “The Times Foodie Award” in 2012.

Once you are in the Hotel it is not like what you expect it to be, it looked more like a Dinning Halls commonly found near ST Stations. But then the smell and Sight of Food hits you no more hiccups post that.

It is kind of preset Menu where you have Big Thali’s arranged just like any Thali Restaurant. The Choice just has to be made between Chicken , Mutton and Veg (Although the Menu Card offers ala-carte selection from Punjabi and also Chinese)

We usually get enquire about Recommendations from the Captain himself so that we don’t have to feel like we are on a blind date. If the Captain is enthusiastic it makes your dining experience must more memorable (that’s what I feel) in this case the captain was experience guy and looking at us he just got what we might be looking for.

He almost placed the Order himself just inquiring one or two times about Chicken or mutton preferences. And rest is History (Check the Photo of Dishes at the Top)

All dishes came simultaneously , I was looking forward to tasting Pandhara Rassa and Tambda Rassa (both are kind of Soups one should try at least once in your life and that too at a good place , if you eat it at a wrong place they it will be difficult to get over the shock and try it again elsewhere)

The Chicken was cooked to perfection and more than that the Mutton was superb in taste (though I thought a little more meat sections would have been helpful, most of Mutton Dish was with lots of Bones)

Main issue observed at such restaurant is service and not breaking the momentum of eating (We call it “Mausam”). In this case there was no such obstacle while eating. Chapatis (Poli in Marathi) just kept on coming like ordered almost instantaneously.

Green Chicken , Sukka Chicken / Mutton and Chicken / Mutton Curries were the entourage ; supported by the two Champion Rassas - Pandhara and Tambda Rassa. Green Chicken was the only dish which was a little less spicy and almost a cream based gravy specially for younger foodies. My personal favorite was Pandhara Rassa all the way , it has a lot of spices and surprisingly goes very well with other Spicy Flavors.

Pandhara Rassa was the Star performer for me in the complete meal followed closely by Mutton Dish.

Good thing about the hotel is that Vegetarian people can also enjoy Rassa and Spicy food much like Non Vegetarians (Though we did not order any Veg still thalis of people near by were looking good).

Though the Hotel offers selection of Punjabi , Chinese and Other regular preparations (ala-carte choice) but it will be strongly recommended to stick to Kolhapuri Special in this Hotel.  Specially the Pandhara Rassa.

All the food is flavoured with accurate amount of Spices with minimum amount of Oil.

It is very rare to find Spicy food which is not HOT. Current equation of Spicy food  is that it has to be Very Hot (almost uneatable) and submerged with Oil. This was an very good example which others can follow in cooking.

Hotel is not too heavy on the Pocket too ( around 400 per head)

It is a must visit Hotel during Kolhapur stay…