72 Hours of Eating in Goa - Fontainhas, Feni, Fish and more
In the first week of June, one of my friends’ parents encouraged us to take a short trip to Goa, instead of the trip to Daman that we had then planned. This was probably the first time in recorded human history that a parent is encouraging their child to go to Goa, instead of the other way around. Excited, we immediately cancelled our train and hotel bookings in Daman, hastily put together an itinerary, and in two weeks found ourselves in a breezy, seaside paradise in the Konkan, away from the scorching dry heat of Ahmedabad that had been troubling us for weeks. Our three-day vacation was spent aimlessly roaming on rented scooters through the dense, green streets of North Goa, and it also served as an introduction to a cuisine that none of us had ever encountered before.
This piece aims to serve as a documentation-cum-review of the places we visited on our three-day tour to Goa. I decided to stray away from my usual style of writing (a separate blogpost for every restaurant I visit) for the purpose of this post, as I’m not too familiar with the nuances of seafood, Goan cuisine, or Goan history. Therefore, three separate pieces on three separate Fish Thaalis that I can only describe as “nice!” and “tender, with a taste of coconut!” would be both rather boring and pointless to read and write. In case I visit Goa in the future, with a better understanding of the intricacies of seafood and Goa as a whole, hopefully with the explicit goal of exploring and understanding the food culture in Goa, I might cover them in my original style of posting (that, for now, I have reserved for topics I feel more qualified to speak on, such as Punjabi, Mughlai, or Gujarati food).
Day One // Bhatti Village Family Bar & Restaurant, Nerul
Our first stop was Bhatti Village Family Bar & Restaurant, a small family - run restaurant housed in a traditional bungalow in Nerul, known for its authentic Goan cuisine. We had a handful of curries - Prawn Balchao, Pork Vindaloo, Mushroom Xacuti and Goan Veg Curry, served with Poi (a staple Goan bread), two Serradurras for dessert and a glass of Feni with complimentary soda as a mix.
The Prawn Balchao, a Goan curry with Portuguese roots, was very spicy, heavily relying on the use of red chillies for its flavour. This was our only time trying a Balchao on our short trip, so I cannot say if Bhatti’s version of the dish is the most accurate portrayal of its preparation in Goan cuisine or not, but the plate I had here was definitely too spicy to enjoy, and felt a bit unidimensional in its flavour, with the taste of red chillies being a bit too overbearing for us.
In contrast, the other meat curry we had, the Pork Vindaloo, featured wonderfully layered flavours - a perfectly spicy and tangy mixture of vinegar, red chillies and garlic being served with some of the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork there is to be found. The Vindaloo too, is a colonial remnant, its Portuguese ancestor being the carne de vinho e albos, or, “meat with wine and garlic”. And to clarify any misunderstanding - a Pork Vindaloo does not contain the potato! The word aloo in vindaloo refers to garlic, not potato - the latter is known as batata in Portugal, a word that has been adopted for the potato in many Indian languages as well.
Bhatti serves vegetarian variants of popular Goan dishes as well - a bite of information that would be of much use to visitors who don’t eat meat, as most locals consume meat, reflected in the eateries across the state. We had their Goan Veg Curry - vegetables such as carrots and beans in a coconut based - stew, and their Mushroom Xacuti - a light curry flavoured with white poppy seeds, grated coconut and red chilli. I enjoyed both of them, but if you’re a meat eater, I implore you to try the prawn or chicken variants of them instead.
The curries were quite homely, and didn’t feel heavy on one’s stomach as restaurant food often does. They were served with Poi - a fluffy, soft, round, traditional Goan bread that resembles the Middle Eastern pita, with the most notable differentiator amongst others being its relatively coarse external texture. The Poi was an absolute blast to have with the curries, but if you wish, you can have some rice on the side instead.
On the side, I ordered a glass of Cashew Feni, a local liquor produced by squashing Cashew Apples and fermenting the juice that is made from it, which came with some complimentary soda. The Feni was quite strong, as it typically contains around 40% alcohol content, and I honestly really enjoyed the taste of it - probably the only time I have felt so for a glass of alcohol. The soft aftertaste of cashew that lingers in your mouth long after you’ve taken a sip is to die for, and if you have ungodly amounts of this beverage, you might as well (this is not legal advice. do not give yourself alcohol poisoning over a silly joke made on the internet)!
For dessert, we ordered two Serradurras - a lovely Portuguese dessert of condensed milk and whipped cream, topped with a generous sprinkle of crushed Marie biscuits. A simple, elegant way to end our meal, the Serradurra is something that I’ll recommend every visitor to Goa have.
Recommendations:
Pork Vindaloo (9.5/10), Prawn Balchao (7.75/10), Mushroom Xacuti (7/10), Goan Veg Curry (8/10), Feni (9.75/10), Serradurra (9.5/10)
Location:
Bhatti Waddo, Nerul, Goa 403114
Piccola Roma Pizzeria, Vagator
Piccola Roma in Vagator serves delicious, authentic, wood-fired pizzas straight out of Italy that are worth checking out. Our introduction to this place was quite underwhelming, as a plate of their garlic bread had only three pieces, and was quite average in taste. Their pizzas, however, were the star of the show, very light and thin, baked in wood fire ovens, with a variety of toppings, and eccentric choices such as the Kamasutra Pizza and Cafreal Pizza as well! We visited this place for dinner on our first day, and ordered the Biancaneve - topped with in-house mozzarella and mushrooms, the Quattro Formaggi - the ubiquitous four-cheese pizza with mozzarella, gorganzala, smoked mozzarella and parmesan cheese and their Atomica - their version of the veggie delight - topped with diced bell pepper, onion and chillies. All three of them were excellently prepared, my favourite being the Biancaneve (due to my penchant for mushrooms). If you’re bored of having fish curries or Goan meat stews meal after meal, or if you’re a vegetarian who just wants to have some options on your plate and aren’t interested the least in the scores of Gujarati and Punjabi restaurants present in Anjuna, come to Piccola Roma and order a glass of Rose Wine (as I did) to enjoy the taste of Italy.
Recommendations:
Biancaneve (7.75/10), Quattro Formaggi (7.5/10), Atomica (7.25/10)
Avoid their Garlic Bread (4/10)
Location:
Chapora Road, Near Bharat Petrol Pump, Vagator, Goa 403509
Vinayak Family Restaurant, Asgaon
After satisfying my vegetarian friends’ appetite, we headed to Vinayak Family Restaurant in Asgaon to have some seafood. Vinayak is a restaurant very well-known for its seafood, and the meat eaters amongst us promptly ordered some Calamari (Squid) Masala and Prawn Xacuti. I am not the most passionate eater of seafood, I mostly sticked to mutton and chicken in my stay in Delhi, and while I’m quite the fan of Prawn, I hadn’t ever had Calamari before my visit to Vinayak. It is safe to say that I am now a fan of the mollusc. The Calamari Masala was nothing particurly local, just a tomato - based curry flavoured wth generic Indian spices (I don’t mean that negatively). The Prawn Xacuti was our second time having a Xacuti curry, after our previous experience at Bhatti, and perhaps it is because I was having it with meat, but I must say, I preferred Vinayak’s take on the dish more. Visiting Vinayak was a great experience a short distance from Vagator and Anjuna, and if you want to have some excellent seafood, this is the place to go.
Recommendations:
Prawn Xacuti (8/10), Calamari Masala (8/10)
Location:
House No 278, Socol Vaddo, Asgaon, Goa 403507
Day Two // Padaria Prazeres, Miramar, Panjim
Padaria Prazeres is a European - inspired bakery - cafe run by a couple, Ralph Prazeres and Stacy Gracias, located just off Miramar Beach in Panjim. We went there for brunch on our second day, and placed a hearty order of desserts, sandwiches, bagels, smoothies and other baked items.
Their Beef Brisket Sandwich featured an incredibly tender and juicy piece of brisket, garnished with little but a slice of lettuce.
The Breakfast Bagel had a touch of chia seeds on top of it, filled with cream, eggs, and a fried slice of bacon. The perfect mix of the American bagel and an American breakfast.
Their Garlic Cream Cheese Sandwich was incredibly fluffy, with a hearty smothering of cream cheese on the side. We ordered it in two different variants - the cheese and jalapeno bagel, and onion focaccia, both of which were excellent.
For dessert, we ordered a Glazed Donut and a Cinnamon Sugar Donut, both of which were very fluffy, soft and just the right amount of sweet, the perfect way to end a meal, or to pack for yourselves in case you need to grab as a short snack.
Their Pain au Chocolat was very rich, with the perfect, fluffy rise that you expect out of a croissant stuffed with a wonderfully chocolaty filling on the inside.
The Mocha Cake Slice was all you could ask for from a dessert - a fluffy, doughy slice of cake with an icing of chocolate and coffee.
We also had their Palmier - a French pastry commonly known as the elephant’s ear - which was very crunchy and not very sweet.
The Sticky Toffee Pudding was also very enjoyable. Again, very chocolaty, but with a different taste and texture from the Pain au Chocolat or the Mocha Cake Slice.
Lastly, the Berry Smoothie - which contained almost zero sugar, and was a fresh blend of blueberries, strawberries, and perhaps a few other berries that I forgot to ask the cashier.
While I haven’t waxed eloquent on the merits of each dish at this bakery, perhaps because of the small portions shared amongst 5 people which did not give me much time to ponder over the deeper meaning of consuming a breakfast bagel by the beach, this place was surely a standout for us on our trip, and it should be one for the bucket list when you’re headed to Goa.
Recommendations:
Beef Brisket (9/10), Glazed Donut (8/10), Cinnamon Sugar Donut (8/10), Breakfast Bagel (8.5/10), Garlic Cream Cheese Sandwich with Onion Focaccia (8/10), Garlic Cream Cheese Sandwich with Cheese & Jalapeno (7.5/10), Berry Smoothie (9/10), Sticky Toffee Pudding (9/10), Pain au Chocolat (8/10), Mocha Cake Slice (9/10), Palmier (8.5/10)
Location:
Celeste Plaza, Ground floor, opposite Models Celebrity, Caranzalem, Panaji, Goa 403002
Adarsh Bar & Restaurant, Bicholim
Our plan for Day Two was to hop on a ferry to Chorao Island, visit the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, drive through Chorao Island, and reach Harvalem Waterfalls, before heading back to Anjuna for a beachside sunset. We decided to cancel our Harvalem plan as we ended up leaving our AirBNB quite late, and after reaching Chorao Island, discovered that going to Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary wouldn’t be worth it due to an ongoing downpour, and none of the birds would be visible then. We then decided to randomly roam around Chorao Island on our scooters, taking in the rain, the greenery, the scenic views of the distant Western Ghats, the small villages we passed through, and so on. After taking a pit stop at the island’s only petrol pump in Bicholim, we went to one of the only restaurants open in the area - Adarsh Bar & Restaurant.
My vegetarian friends ordered some hakka noodles and a paneer starter, which was frankly quite mediocre (I did not take pictures). We ordered the Chicken Cafreal and King Mackerel Thaali. The former was OK. Cafreal is a Portuguese - inspired Goan curry made of green chillies, coriander and other herbs. While I didn’t have cafreal elsewhere on my trip, the one that I had at Adarsh wasn’t very inspiring.
What I enjoyed much more though, was their King Mackerel Thaali. It contained a platter of seafood items, most notably an incredibly tender fried fillet of the King Mackerel native to the waters outside Goa, some clams fried in what seemed like turmeric, red chilli powder and diced onions, and a small bowl of a prawn curry in a base of drumsticks and coconut, which was a very refreshing take on prawn which I enjoyed a lot, quite different from the Bengali Prawn Chops and Malayali Prawn Biryanis that I’m used to having back in Dilli. They served a healthy portion of rice with the seafood, as well as a slice of alphonso mango, some kokum water with green chilli and coriander, a gulab jamun, and some salad on the side. Honestly, if you ever find yourself stuck in Chorao, hungry for a meal with a partner, you could probably share this thaali between two, though you run the risk of getting in an argument as to who gets to have the sole Gulab Jamun :)
Recommendations:
King Mackerel Thaali (9/10), Chicken Cafreal (6/10)
Location:
Bicholim - Mapuca Highway Rd, Borden, Dicholi, Goa 403504
Kokni Kanteen, Altinho, Panjim
For dinner, we headed to Kokni Kanteen in Panjim, a restaurant that often shows up on lists of places to eat in Goa, and was one that was suggested to us by a few friends as well. Kokni Kanteen is a charming, cosy, old-school restaurant that has been serving delicious seafood for over 50 years now - having been established in 1972. Overwhelmed by their extensive menu serving a variety of prawn, chicken, fish and whatnot, we settled on a Malvani Crab Curry and a Red Snapper Tawa Fry, with some rice and a Kokum Soda on the side, and a Bebinca for dessert.
The Red Snapper Tawa Fry was excellent. I am not that well-versed with the world of seafood yet, so I cannot comment on how Red Snapper is different from other fish. For now, that remains a wonder of the world unknown to me, yet to be discovered. I can, however, assure you that Kokni Kanteen’s version of the Red Snapper Tawa Fry was beautifully tender, coated with a crispy, charred exterior infused by the grill. Worth trying.
My favourite dish in all of my travels in Goa, however, was the Malvani Crab Curry at Kokni Kanteen. A wonderfully tangy, spicy and peppery curry from the coastal Malvan region of Southern Maharashtra, this dish truly opened my eyes to the joys of Konkani cuisine. To put into words just how much I enjoyed this dish, I usually am only able to half-heartedly finish any curry after quickly devouring the meat that accompanies it. This was one of the only times when I truly wished that there was more curry for me to have with rice alone. This was also my first time trying Crab, and it was an enjoyable meal to have, though, very high maintenance, as deconstructing an entire crab from its legs to its pincers just to get miniature nibbles of edible food gets a bit annoying very quickly, and it makes it slightly difficult for amateur crab-eaters to gauge the taste of the meat as well.
We paired our meal with a glass of Kokum Soda, kokum being the slightly sour and tarty fruit that is produced on the west coast of India. This tangy, fizzy, spicy (as rock salt and other masalas are often added) drink was the perfect pair to our scrumdiddlyumptious seafood spread.
We ended our second day with Bebinca, a layer cake with a slight dash of coconut that is traditionally only baked during Christmas, which tasted good but was slightly underwhelming compared to the desserts we had earlier, particularly the Serradurra on Day One.
Kokni Kanteen is a spot that you should definitely check out on your trip to Goa. It more than exceeded my expectations during my visit, to the extent that I want to spend a week aimlessly loitering around Panjim, just so I can have two meals a day from this classic spot in town, and try everything that they have to offer on their menu.
Recommendations:
Crab Malvani Masala (9.75/10), Red Snapper Tawa Fry (9/10), Bebinca (7.75/10), Kokum Soda (9/10)
Location:
Dr Dada Vaidya Rd, Near Mahalaxmi Temple, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001
Day Three // Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro, Fontainhas, Panjim
Fontainhas is Panjim’s old Latin Quarters, also known as “that street with colourful yellow and blue houses on Instagram”. The first half of our last day in Goa saw us exploring the various streets of the area. I had also planned on cafe-and-bar-hopping the various Indo - Portuguese eateries in the area, but that plan unfortunately failed on us for reasons that would be impolite to explain, and we ended up having most of our brunch at Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro instead, a bakery that has been serving the locality since 1930.
Their Chicken Panroll was comforting, a roll of dough coated with breadcrumbs stuffed with chicken mince. Their Pork Roll was the best thing we had on our trip there, wonderfully spicy, meaty and doughy. 10/10.
Their sandwiches - Paneer Sandwich, Pesto Sandwich and Egg Grilled Sandwich were decently filling.
One of my favourite dishes I had here was the Prawn Rissois - a melt-in-your-mouth fried patty that is filled with creamy prawns and coated with crunchy breadcrumbs. Excellent.
The Chicken Mayo Roll was predictably mediocre (due to my dislike for Mayonnaise) and can be skipped.
Their Beef Puff was very meaty, and coated with a crunchy, flaky exterior of dough, which I enjoyed a lot.
For dessert, we started off with a Pastel de Nata, acustard tarts dusted with cinnamon which was flaky, soft, light and delicately spiced.
Next up was the Serradurra, though I preferred Bhatti’s version of the dish, as here, the ratio of biscuit to cream was too heavily tipped in favour of the biscuit, and it was a bit too powdery as well, got stuck in my throat a few times (Bhatti’s on the other hand was slightly coarse). This was followed by a soft and sweet New York Cheesecake, which was so delish it reminded me of why New York City is the Greatest City in the World, Baby!
Lastly was the Bolo Sans Rival, which literally means Cake without a Rival, and we made the mistake of ordering two, as it was unexpectedly larger than the previous offerings. The Bolo Sans Rival was buttery and creamy sprinkled with the flavours of vanilla and cashew in between. It was also overpoweringly sweet, not letting the other flavours in the dish shine, which lessened our opinion of it.
My musings on the individual dishes at Confeitaria remain limited to a sentence or two each, similar to my takes on Padaria Prazeres, for similar reasons as well.
Recommendations:
Pork Roll (9.5/10), Prawn Rissois (9.5/10), Beef Puff (9.5/10), New York Cheesecake (9/10), Pastel de Nata (9/10), Chicken Pan Roll (7/10), Chicken Mayo Roll (4/10), Serra Durra (6/10), Bolo Sans Rival (6.75/10), Sandwiches (7.75/10)
Joseph Bar, Fontainhas, Panjim
Joseph was the only bar I managed to visit in Fontainhas, mostly because none of my friends drink alcohol. This small, blue, rustic tavern takes you back to the 1970s, and is a great spot to hang out with your friends, and to try the multiplicity of cocktails that they offer on their menu. I had their Kokum Feni which was an absolutely wonderful mixture of local flavours, and will surely be visiting this place on future visits for more.
Recommendations:
Kokum Feni (8.75/10)
Location:
Gomes Pereira Road, Rua São Tomé, Panaji, Goa 403001
Hospedaria Venite, Fontainhas, Panjim
Our last stop on our food crawl was Hospedaria Venite in Fontainhas. We did not order much from this restaurant, apart from a Goan Pork Sausage plate, which was rather disappointing, well spiced but very chewy, and the endless vegetables and fries on the side didn’t entertain us either.
This was the only place I got to try Urrack, which I loved - a product of the first phase of distillation of the Feni - making process. The rarity of Urrack comes from its much smaller shelf life - it is really only available in the early months of summer - while Feni is stored and available year-long. Predictably, Urrack is quite similar to Feni in taste, but it contains less alcohol content, having only 10 to 15% alcohol content, compared to Feni’s 40 to 45%.
That was it for our Fontainhas food tour. There were many more bakeries, cafes and bars that I wanted to visit, but had to cut short due to time, and our longer visit at Confeitaria. Though, no regrets of our time spent, everything that we had was excellent and time spent with friends is always worthwhile.
Recommendations:
Urrack (9/10). I do not recommend their Goan Pork Sauages (3/10)
Location:
Rua 31 de Janeiro, Near Head Post Office, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001
Bobchik, Morjim
We planned on catching the sunset on our last day at North Goa’s Morjim Beach, making the long, scenic hour-and-a-half ride from Panjim to reach there, but our plan was unfortunately cut short by my friends driving their scooters head-first into a huge puddle of mud and getting stuck there for an hour (luckily the scooter I was riding on did not encounter any such issues, allowing me to enjoy the sunset on the only evening it was not cloudy). Eventually, we found a mechanic who agreed to fix our scooters, and opposite his shop, lay Bobchik, run by wife-and-husband Chiki and Bobby, a spot that looked like your run-of-the-mill instagrammable cafe that seem to pop up in every metropolitan and touristy area in India these days. Uniquely, they had a ping pong table for guests to enjoy their stay, and their food, while expensive, was quite good, so perhaps the Instagram analogy is a bit unkind.
Their Grilled Tofu Croissant was an amalgamation of grilled tofu, soft mushrooms, fresh slices of tomatoes and iced lettuce, garlic aioli, cheese and a generous spread of honey mustard dressing in a beautifully baked, soft-as-a-feather croissant. It was a very interesting mixture of a variety of ingredients that I hadn’t had before, which I enjoyed a lot.
Their Exotic Veg Pizza was decent, a large, thin crust pizza with a variety of vegetables sprinkled on top
We had their seafood platter, which had crunchy, fried Calamari Rings served with a cheese sauce on top, Butter Garlic Prawns with an umami wonder that was out of this world, a Rava Fry Kingfish which was a bunch of tender kingfish fillets, and a Konkani Masala Mackerel that was incredibly smokey and well-grilled, similar to the Red Snapper we had at Kokni the other day.
After Bobchik, we went to some other place in Porvorim, and snacked on some decent Veg Manchurian and Hakka Noodles and some mediocre Chicken Momos and Chicken Lollipop, which I did not bother to document in my gallery due its obscurity.
Recommendations:
Grilled Tofu Croissant (7.75/10), Seafood Platter (8/10)
Location:
700/A, Mardiwada, Morjim, Goa 403512
Day Four // Benjoe Rail Restaurant, Madgaon
Technically, our 72 hours of eating in Goa ended at Bobchik the day before, but I had an excellent Mackerel combo with Rice at Benjoe Rail Restaurant in Madgaon which I feel is worth mentioning. This was hands down the most cost-friendly place we visited on our Goa trip, unsurprisingly, and can be a good place to stop for breakfast or a snack if you’re coming to Goa from Madgaon, a town in South Goa which serves as Goa’s primary railway station. The Mackerel Thaali came with a fish fillet, some rice, rajma, a coconut-based curry, salad and some mango pickle. A fitting seafood meal to end our Goa trip. Vegetarians can have the Masala Dosa and Idlis that they serve, which are very affordable at around 40/- and 30/- respectively as of June 2024.
Recommendations:
Mackerel with Rice (6.25/10), Dosa (5/10), Idli (6.25/10)
Location:
Railway Station, Sanscar Society, Madgaon, Goa 403601
Closing Thoughts
To me, a good holiday is one that leaves you deeply unsatisfied. It piques your curiosity into the wondrous depths of a previously unknown culture, leaving you desperate to stay for a few more days, to hold on to the place for as long as you can, one that engulfs you with a desire to stay back and immerse yourself in the foreign culture for as long as you can. That is exactly how I felt on my trip to Goa. I explored a lot of places, tried a lot of food, was introduced to a whole new cuisine, and yet, the only thing that I was thinking of on my train journey back to Ahmedabad, was how I left out on so much, particularly in the culinary department. I know that it is not humanly possible to explore all aspects of a place on just a short visit - and part of travel is the acceptance of the fact that there will always be something that you won’t be able to experience - but I really hope that I am able to visit Goa again. Preferably, for a longer stay, of a few weeks, a month, even, to eat at the places that remain left behind, to visit the shores of beaches that remain untouched, and to drink some more feni with my pals at Joseph’s in Fontainhas. I hope you enjoyed Goa through my lens.
