So we reached Mangalore (Now Mangaluru) in Karnataka after driving for 1000 kms. from our hometown of Nasik, Maharashtra which took us about 16 hours.
We chose to stay at Hotel Deepa Comforts on MG Road. This was our hotel of choice because:
- It is located in the middle of the city. So many of the restaurants and other requirements are within walking / easy driving range
- It has good basement parking
- It’s reasonable priced.
- It has both veg and non-veg restaurants in-house, for the days when you want to have a quick meal in the hotel itself.
Our itinerary for the 48 hours spent in Mangalore can be summarised as follows:
Day 1:
- Visit to Shree Durgaparameshwari Temple, Kateel.
- Visit to Shree Gokarnanatha Kshetra, Kudroli temple
- Visit to Pabba’s Ice Cream Parlour (Ideal Cafe)
- Visit to Tannirbhavi Beach
- Dinner at Gajalee restaurant
- Desserts at Diesel Cafe
Day 2:
- Visit to Sri Kshetra Shringeri temple
- Shopping in Nilgiris departmental store in city
- Dinner at Village restaurant
The detailed account of our 48 hours spent in Mangalore is as follows:
Day 1:
We decided to visit the temples nice and early, firstly to beat the heat and also to get less crowds. We wanted to visit 02 temples in the city on this day.
We departed from our hotel at 10:00am and firstly visited the Shree Durgaparameshwari Temple, Kateel.
It took us about 30 minutes to drive from our hotel to the temple. The drive is via the airport road. Most of it is on single lane but it is in good condition.
The temple was crowded with newly married couples and disciples. In fact, there were even some marriage ceremonies taking place inside the temple when we visited. But the Darshan is very well arranged and we completed out Darshan without any fuss within 15 minutes. You can cross a bridge after the temple and meet some elephants looked after by the temple too 🙂
Overall 30 minutes and we headed over to our next destination for the day, Shree Gokarnanatha Kshetra, Kudroli temple. This temple is located in the Mangalore city itself and so it was almost a 30 minutes drive back into the city.
Comparatively, the Kudroli temple was much less crowded, although there were 02 separate marriages going on here too. The temple is simple but beautiful. Very calm and serene. After the Darshan, we also got to have lunch at the temple dining hall.
After lunch, we took advantage of having booked a hotel in the centre of the city and decided to steal a nap to beat the heat.
But before that, we made a quick stop at Pabba’s Ice Cream Parlour (Ideal Cafe), located at Shree Krishna Prasad Building in Lalbagh. It serves a bunch of snacks and shakes as well, but it’s the ice creams that steals the show. An absolute must-visit place, if you want to indulge your sweet-tooth.
Be ready to wait in line, cause this place has a lone queue for seating. There are a few branches in Mangalore and a delivery counter as well. So check for the closest branch if you want to visit.
In the evening, we decided to head out to the next best known attraction of Mangalore, its beaches. We chose Tannirbhavi Beach, which is located 10 kms. and 20 minutes driving distance from the city.
Lots of crowds, nice quaint eating places and variety of street foods are available at the beach. Definitely a nice atmosphere to enjoy the evening.
After returning, it was time to enjoy the local delicacies of Mangalore. After researching, we chose Gajalee restaurant, which is located in Circuit House Compound, Kadri. It’s a chain of restaurants all over India, known for its seafood dishes. It has nice indoor and outdoor seating options both.
And boy, they did not disappoint. Ghee roast crab, king prawns in butter garlic sauce, tawa fry pomfret.. each dish was better than the last. So much so.. that we didn’t even need accomplishments like roti or rice. We simply enjoyed the seafood and beer 🙂
But the night was still young, and we decide to explore Mangalore a bit more and check out a different place for desserts. We chose Diesel Cafe, which is located in Hotel Prestige in Balmatta area. It looks like one of several restaurants in the hotel. It’s a place to hangout and chill, and definitely not a place to get quick and efficient service. Very nice interiors, good music and a chilled vibe.
We had only the desserts, and they were very good!! Their coffee was nice also.
That brought to an end our Day 1 in Mangalore. Quite a busy but satisfying day, finished with lip-smacking food. We retired back to our hotel, looking forward to the next action packed day.
Day 2:
We had decided to utilise the second day in Mangalore to explore a bit of the outskirts of the city. The perfect option we picked was Sringeri. The Sri Kshetra Sringeri temple is located approx. 110 kms. from Mangalore, and the drive takes you through the picturesque Kudremukh Wildlife National Park, which is a UNESCO world Heritage site. You get a barcoded card at the entrance of the park, which you have to deposit when you exit the park. You get 90 minutes to complete the journey. All this to keep a check on illegal logging.
The temple itself is located in a hill station like setting, although it was pretty hot on the day we visited. Again, very calm and serene atmosphere all around.
It is a very large temple, and you can visit the temple itself, feed the fish in the pond, and also visit the ashram of Sri Shankaracharya at designated times for his Darshan. We purchased fruits as offerings in the ashram from outside the temple itself. There is also a shop selling souvenirs at the temple exit.
After the temple Dharshan and a quick lunch outside (There is a dining hall in the temple premises as well), we drove back to Mangalore and reached the city by 4pm.
The final evening was reserved for shopping for local goodies, which included the famous Mysore Pak, banana chips and coffee. Nilgiris departmental store on MG road is a good place to find all these things and more in one place.
For our final dinner in Mangalore, we again researched and finalised on Village restaurant. Its a multi-cuisine restaurant located on Yeyyadi Airport Road. It was about 10 minutes drive from our hotel in the city centre.
It’s a huge restaurant and was pretty crowded. As usual, we decided to stick with our seafood theme. Being multi-cuisine, the food options are numerous. We tried some tandoori kebabs, some Chinese starters and the now standard fish tawa fry. All starters were good. For the main course we went for some chicken and roti, which was also good.
Overall, I will rate the food here as very good. Definitely a place to visit for the ambience, experience and the food.
That brought to an end our 48 hours stay in Mangalore. It is a beautiful and old city, steeped in culture and heritage. Yet it is modern and developed. The buildings are tall, the city is clean and the people are warm and welcoming. The food is to die for and the restaurants choices are numerous.
Bonus tips:
We also managed to squeeze in visits to a few additional restaurants including to:
Hotel Janatha Deluxe on Pattumudi Soudha Ballalbagh located behind TMA Pai Convention Center. Its a good Udupi joint and we enjoyed the dosas and the filter coffee here.
Meister Wurst is a nice place for sausages and cold cuts. Its located in the same building as Hotel Deepa Comforts.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the 48 hours we spent in Mangalore. Do stay tuned for more blogs as I visit more cities and experience them with my eyes and my taste 🙂
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