Goa is becoming a foodie's delight.

 

Yazu at Candolim Beach. Calamari and Palms & Sands are next door. 

A lot of people from outside Goa bought property in Goa for residential purposes during and after Covid 19 set in. Apartments mushroomed all over the state and so did luxury Villas. Assagaon, Porvorim, Siolim and Reis Magos had some super duper Villas. Some of them were super luxurious with a view of Arabian sea and all amenities like gym and swimming pool within the premises. This resulted in many more restaurants coming up in Goa and many of them had Delhi or Mumbai background like Soul Fry,  Jamun, Mustard and Olive. 

During this trip of Feb 2023 we were there for just 4 days so one can't really go to too many places. Basically we stuck to North Goa and each meal was at a different place. It all started with Yazu which happened to be part of Marquis hotel at Candolim. Marquis is a nice hotel with beach access. Next to it is 'O' hotel which has a casino so gamblers love to stay there. We were staying in Chalet Balnear next to the restaurant so it was very convenient. Yazu serves Pan Asian food and is very popular and as it is beach facing, plays some good music and has excellent food. It gets full 5 PM onwards as many come here for sundowners and then stick around. Those who drive here from some distance can drive into the lane and park at Marquis hotel so it becomes convenient as otherwise parking can be a big mess. Even for lunch it becomes a very good destination as one can take a few dips in the sea and then start off with Beer/Cocktails. Another great Pan Asian restaurant in the vicinity is Wok n Roll where we normally go but decided to check out other places during this trip so gave it a miss. Wok n Roll is on the road which goes from Taj Aguada to Aguada fort. 

Sun-downers

We were fortunate to witness these kind of sunsets from our Villa

Sun-downer  hours seem to be the most popular time on the beach. Most people find the beach too hot in the day time to venture there so they wait for the sun to lose its intensity. The beach comes alive after 4.30 PM with loads of people in the sea and a lot of walkers and joggers trying to lose their calories with the lovely sea breeze blowing. One would have thought people would go for tranquility at this time but on the contrary it is the loud music which takes over the entire beach belt. Staying so close to the beach - it was impossible to take a nap once the music started with sun-downers and each shack belting out numbers which had 'loud' written all over it. This is happening on all the popular beaches of Goa. If you go towards Vagator and Anjuna - it is difficult to get a place in places like Antares and Thalaasa at around 5.30 PM. Thalaasa (Specialises in cocktails and Greek delicacies as it is owned by Greek couple) has moved from little Vagator to Siolim but still remains popular.

The Palms and Sands had a common wall with our villa so our loyalty lay there and owner was decent enough to send us our prawns and chili chicken to our place while we sipped our drinks sitting at our sea-side verandah. It was imperative that we had one meal there at the restaurant itself and we did that on the penultimate evening. Food and ambience was good and the sound of sea waves crashing onto the beach was soothing as thankfully the loud music ended once the sundowners left. 

A trip to Morjim

Newly opened Blue Turtle at Morjim

Inside the Blue Turtle. It has beach access. 

Lazy Goose at Nerul Bridge and Toro Toro at Baga are very popular places with live performances of musicians on certain days. The owners of these restaurants have recently opened another restaurant at Morjim. Morjim is further North from Anjuna and after crossing Siolim and Chapora river you turn left towards Ashwem and Morjim. Morjim is known as 'Turtle Beach' and while there are many shacks on the main entrance to the beach - many nicer restaurants have opened up further down the beach. In the past we always would go to the main beach and sit in one of the shacks there next to the water. We never found good food at any of those shacks. 

  Blue Turtle restaurant is a well laid out restaurant and is quite upmarket with a nice view of sparkling sea. It is a bit away from the main beach area which I have mentioned above, We had gone there for lunch and after a dip in sea I was given a nice towel so I could take a shower.  It is a  multi cuisine restaurant which had a decent menu but unfortunately we could just have a few drinks here as we had 3 youngsters with us who decided that they wanted to go to a more happening place. At around 1 PM Blue Turtle was just waking up. Diners and musicians had not yet come in, while in a shack nearby the music was blaring and there was full party atmosphere. The youngsters went there and asked us to follow once I got back from my swim. They were turned away from there as it was more of a hippie type joint and they said that they didn't have a table for 7 people. I think they didn't want us. By this time we had also walked out of Blue turtle. So now we were tired and hungry but had no place in mind to go for lunch. 

Felix at Anjuna. Many such quaint but classy places have mushroomed in the beach belt. 

  Amongst the several restaurant names that Karl had given us 'Felix' was one of them. Karl was the owner of Villa where we were staying. He had also recommended Prana Cafe, Amber and Riverside. For some reason we chose Felix at Anjuna. It turned out to be a nice lunch place with seating outside in verandah under the trees. The place was charming as it was an old Goan house with Bar and pool table inside the house and seating outside. When we wanted to have a drink, a young lady came to take the order and introduced herself as the mixologist of the restaurant. I don't think Feni was on the menu. No sure actually but I had a cocktail which promised much by its name but delivered little. Food was more of cafe type of food with limited menu but it was nice. We generally enjoyed the ambience and feel of the place. I got nice grilled butter garlic jumbo prawns along with my cocktail so I was happy. Good part is that all of us enjoyed the afternoon there. 

My Jumbo prawns in butter garlic. 

 Goan Food and Fish Thali

If someone wants to have good Goan food then for several years Ritz was the most popular place. Ritz is in Panjim and the place gets crowded. I have actually seen long queues there. One of the main reason for such popularity was the pricing they had. They have opened a few branches and one of them is in some mall. They have tried to be upmarket and now you get all kinds of food there - even butter chicken. Starlight cafe in Arpora near Baga is another place where the locals go to enjoy genuine Goan food at a very reasonable price. For fish thaali we have been going to The Fat fish at Arpora for several years but the place has become so popular now that most times they run out of fish thaali. A couple of times we went to their Anjuna restaurant for thali.

Fish Deck is a great alternate to Fat fish. Great fish Thali here. 

 Another place near Fat fish is the 'The fish Deck' which also has nice fish thali. We did think of going to 'Anand seafood restaurant' and made an attempt also but as always it was totally packed with 40-60 minutes waiting. Anand is a simple shack near Anjuna (on the main road itself) and they serve great sea food. Crabs and prawns are awesome here and the owner takes pride in the fact that he doesn't have a fridge so each day he gets fresh catch. Similar to Anand is 'Vinaayak' and that too is very popular. 

Soi at Candolim is a better option for those who like a bit upmarket place. It is next to Sinq nightclub (Near Taj Village).  It serves very good Goan food and has a fairly elaborate menu. 

Good Goan food near Taj at Candolim

All these places have a large fish thali with Rava fried fish, fish curry, prawn curry, crab curry, 2 vegetables, rice etc. Many a times I have taken recommendation from the hotel staff and eaten home cooked fish thali at some small joint. That is a basic thali costing around Rs 120-140 but really tasty (a bit spicy also). It doesn't have so many things but it is normally very good. 

Though Goans make some very good Cafreal (Pudina/mint) and Xacuti (Coconut) based dishes, I particularly like their beef chilli fry which is dry preparation with lot of onions, potatoes, tomato and green pepper. Those who don't eat beef can have chicken chilli fry. 

Beachside Restaurants

Calamari bathe and binge was also just a 5 minute walk on the beach from where we stayed at Candolim. It starts getting filled up around 2 PM and then people get in the mood after a few drinks and keep dancing till the time band decides to play. It has indoor as well as outdoor seating and you can get leg massage also while relaxing and sipping beer. Beach is right there so for me it is swim, beer, prawns, swim, beer and Pomfret ! 

Calamari has become expensive but people have money to spend. 

Tandoori Pomfret at Calamari

Pousada on the beach at Calangute is another good place for lunch but now they have started charging cover charges which we found steep. I was also recommended Pisco by the beach at Anjuna but couldn't make it there. Olive at Vagator and La Plage at Ashwem have great ambience and are very upmarket. Both these places are crowded at lunch time. The place I enjoyed a few years back was 'Marbella beach resort' near Ashwem. They have lovely white beach beds and you can very well spend the full day there. I have never really stayed in Ashwem and Morjim as I like the evening atmosphere of Candolim so prefer to stay this side. 

We were surprised that Britto's at Baga wore a deserted look at peak dinner time. Perhaps people want to try new places and this was such time of the year that all restaurants are open so people have more choice. We got a nice table on the beach and the lights on the shacks starting from here and going all the way to Taj Aguada looked very pretty. Food wasn't too great this but it wasn't bad either. I had some chilli prawns for starters and yellow daal fry, naan and beef chilli fry for dinner. Earlier parking used to be an issue here but now there is a large paid parking just 5-10 minutes walk away. 

There used to be a time when trip to Goa meant 4 main restaurants - Ritz, Brittos, Tito's and Souza Lobo. Now we have Tuscany Garden (Italian), Banyan Tree(Thai), Wok n Roll (Pan Asian), House of Lloyds (Steaks) and many others which I have mentioned above. Panjim has some very famous restaurants but we never manage to go there. 

Trip was over soon after it started as 4 days go by very quickly. Hopefully we will go once more this year and try out 5-6 new restaurants which we haven't tried earlier. But with me you never know as it may be South Goa next time and it will be time for Martin's Corner, Fisherman's wharf and Chef Avinash Martin's new offering 'Caventa Goa !'