Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram has become the city’s seafood hub

Late in the night Vizhinjam’s ‘restaurant row’ is a sea of activity as the salty breeze mingles with the mouth-watering aroma of fried seafood, peppered with merry conversations. The seafood restaurants on Vizhinjam Harbour Road are packed with customers from all walks of life, most of whom have travelled from the city and beyond to dine on the best of seafood, fresh from the boats. Vizhinjam is not only the best place to bargain for the catch of the day but it has also become the city’s answer to San Francisco’s Pier 39!  

Vizhinjam’s self-styled ‘restaurant row’ in question is situated on an unpaved track behind the Muhyuddin Juma Masjid Dargah Sharif, and boasts several joints serving seafood only, with just a couple of juice centres here and there. And that’s apart from the handful of restaurants along the main Harbour road itself, making it the city’s seafood hub. 

Al Usthad Hotel
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

“We only serve fresh fish caught right here from Vizhinjam harbour or Poonthura, Kannanthura, Adimalathura and other harbours nearby,” claims Ashraf Mohammed Haneefa, the proprietor of Al Usthad hotel. 

Mussels fry from Salmon seafood restaurant
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

As if to illustrate his point, a fisherman comes with a bag full of plump hamour fish (grouper) that he just caught. “It’s typically found near the rocks and reefs in the harbour,” says Ashraf, inviting us to look at the rest of the day’s catch, kept on ice in the restaurant’s storeroom. There’s plump ponnarameen (butter fish), hamour, kalava, red and white snappers, avoli (pomfret), neymeen (seer fish), choora (tuna), prawns, squid and mussels…all marinated and ready to cook.

Vizhinjam family restaurant
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

It’s pretty much the same story up and down restaurant row. Each place has a store room full of seafood, prepped and ready to go. “We all have tie-ups with local fishermen and they bring us whatever they catch. So the menu keeps changing everyday depending on what’s available. Customers can choose what they want and we cook it only after we get the order. Right now, we have a lot of hamour, always a hot favourite with customers; customers usually get one or two for the table,” say youngsters Issudeen Mohammed Illyas and Nazeer Khan, who run Salmon restaurant, which they opened eight months ago to rave reviews.

Prawns fry from Al Usthad Hotel
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

“It’s also clam season now so we are getting a bountiful catch of chippi (mussels) every day,” adds Riyas Khan of Asmak Seafood, the newest joint on the block, started five months ago and the only one apart from Al Usthad that has an upper deck with an uninterrupted view of the sea. 

Salmon Seafood Restaurant
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

It all began with Ustad Hotel, some 25 years ago. Until the movie Ustad Hotel, starring DQ, was released in 2012, it was just a nameless shack that served meals to fishermen coming ashore in the early hours of the morning. Over the years the restaurant became a cult favourite of foodies for its signature ‘Vizhinjam’ fried fish.

Ashraf Mohammed Haneefa, proprietor of Al Usthad hotel
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

Today, the original Usthad Hotel is in (slightly) fancier new digs way up the main road and in its place on the row is Al Usthad Hotel, now run by members of the same family. Likewise, almost all the restaurants are family-run businesses and many of the owners are ‘Gulf’-returnees belonging to the fishing village itself. 

Issudeen Mohammed Illyas and Nazeer Khan of Salmon Seafood Restaurant
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

The menu is pretty much the same everywhere. It’s fried or grilled fish marinated in a spicy paste of chilli powder, turmeric and salt. The standout ingredient is the fried topping — the famed ‘Vizhinjam style’ masala of tomato, red chilli flakes, shallots, curry leaf, ginger, garlic, cumin and fennel etc, all of which together pack a delectable punch. There’s also fish curry, either simple curry or a coconut-based one, plus a number of accompaniments such as appam, idiyappam, porotta, and pathiri. 

Sulaimani tea is served at all seafood restaurants
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

There are a few variations here and there. Some restaurants have amped up the heat of the masala while at others it is much milder. Some downplay the more pungent ingredients like fennel. Al-Usthad, for example, has a killer no-frills meen mutta (fish roe) fry and Salmon’s grilled fish has a loyal following among foodies, while Asmak has Chef Pillai’s signature Fish Nirvana — pan-fried fish poached in coconut milk. Vizhinjam Family restaurant is the only one in the row with chicken on the menu. At most restaurants, you can customise the marinade, especially when it comes to grilled or barbecued fish.

Riyas Khan of Asmak Seafood
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

“We get 100-plus customers a day,” says Sudheer S., a staff member of Malik, one of the smaller restaurants. That number can go up drastically on the weekends, when there is such a rush of customers that you often end up waiting in line just to get in. “We sell anywhere upwards of 200kg fish a day, particularly during the weekends,” says Riyas. The restaurants typically open from dusk till around 2am, while some open for lunch as well. 

Prawns fry from Usthad Hotel
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR

So, how does one choose which restaurant to go to? Most foodies in the know make a beeline for their favourite places. Others follow the trail of the fish they want to eat or follow the crowd or their nose. It’s very much a personal preference.

Fish fry from Al Usthad Hotel
| Photo Credit:
SREEJITH R KUMAR