Tantalizing Tastes of Goa: A Culinary Journey

Last week, we went on a short trip to Goa. When I say we, I mean only Snubnose and I. It was a girls-only bonding trip with my friends and their girls. This was also the first vacation I took without K post our wedding, so another milestone for me.

This holiday was basic – food, booze, friends, and lots of swimming. We had a blast :).

The last time we went to Goa, we spent it in North Goa. This time around, we decided to explore South Goa’s beautiful beaches.

We went to Benaulim, Varca, Colva, and Cavelossim beaches. All the beaches are pretty, though I think we had the best time at Varca – possibly because it was the first beach we visited.

Now on to the food. I’m vegetarian and conservative, but our non-veg buddy enjoyed the seafood everywhere. Here are some food recommendations if you ever head in that direction.

If you’re visiting south Goa, a trip to Mobor’s Fisherman’s Wharf is essential. Located on the river with a wonderful view, with great food and dessert options, this was easily the best restaurant we visited in Goa. It can be a little pricey, but very worth it. It’s a place to linger over a drink enjoying the view while the kids can play in the little playground on the side. Seriously zen moment!

Burn off the calories at the water sports place down the road that offers banana boating, speed boating, jet-skiing, Ringo, and tons of other fun stuff. We were intrigued enough to try the Ringo, and it was great fun. None of the activities were particularly friendly for young kids, so the littles had to miss this one.

Anyway, back to eating places…another great south Goan restaurant is Martin’s Corner in Betalbatim. We went here for dinner, and it looked a bit pricey from the outside (we’re on a budget, remember?); however, it’s very homey on the inside. Again, good seafood from the looks of it, and great paratha, noodle, and spaghetti options for the kids. Snubnose just inhaled in all the food. So judging by that, this is a great restaurant to bring your family.

We were slightly disappointed by Johncy’s beach restaurant, on Benaulim beach. Maybe our expectations were high, but the restaurant looks nothing like what is shown in the link I posted. Maybe, because it is off-season, and because we went in the night when we were dog-tired, and because of the drunk dude staring at us from his table…whatever the reason, this was the most blah place we went to.

Two top restaurants I recommend more for the scenery than the actual food are Hawaii Garden in Benaulim and Mickey’s in Colva.

We went to Hawaii Garden twice!! It’s a lovely beach-side restaurant, the staff is laid back and relaxed, and the dogs are friendly. Now, you know the kind of restaurant I mean. On regular days, I might not be too kicked to see dogs frolicking in the restaurant and casually walking into the kitchen, but this was a holiday, and the dogs were super-cute and friendly, so it was absolutely fine by me.

If you want the scenery but prefer something a little more upmarket, Mickey’s (off Colva Beach) is the place to go. Unlike the regular restaurants in over-crowded Colva, Mickey’s is in a lonely, more picturesque beach setting. Perfect picture op material.

A couple of other nice restaurants that we visited were Cavatina in Benaulim. It felt a bit more upmarket compared to the others we visited. The food was good, though. My usual unadventurous me enjoyed my sweet corn veg soup and Schezwan fried rice, but Snubnose loved the spaghetti, and the others loved the seafood paella. It’s a very nice place, but unfortunately, we were not hungry enough to do justice to it.

Gaylin in Margao was touted as the best Chinese place to go to in Margao. It supposedly serves up Chinese-Chinese food as opposed to Chinese-Indian. It seemed like any regular Chinese joint we have in Bangalore. The food was nice and reasonably priced, and the service was quick, which I appreciated because we had a train to catch.

So yeah, if I ever come back to this part of the world with K, I will recommend that we visit Fisherman’s Wharf, Cavatina, and Mickey’s. Those were the best places, which I highly recommend.