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TEN GREAT VALUE-FOR-MONEY PLACES TO EAT OUT IN GOA
Frederick Noronha
SOMEHOW only the big and luxury names seem to ever get written about in Goa.
Probably it has something to do with their long reach, persistence and the
fact that they simply have a bigger budget for doing PR.
But if you're looking for taste, and not ambience, here's where you could
seek. Caution -- some of these places are really rough, though tasty:
o AFLATOON 'HOTEL', near the masjid alongside Alankar
cinema in Mapusa. Be prepared to share tables with the
scruffiest of characters and dig into tasty mutton biryani
(Rs 40), beef biryani (Rs 20), soft parathas (Rs 5), seekh
kababs (Rs 10) and the rest...This is Muslim-style food.
o GOAN-NONVEG fast-food joints (they run out of adapted
handcarts) at Santa Cruz (near the church) and
Miramar (adjoining Clube Gaspar Dias). Meat-based
sandwitches for Rs 10, tasty and easy-to-carry.
(Couldn't we learn to use less plastic though?)
Real home-style food at down-to-earth prices.
No wonder one outlet at Miramar sells 800 bread a day!
You can also get similarly delicious Goan cooking
at the roadside in Agaciam (just before the bridge)
or sausages ('choris-pao') at the Agaciam market.
o AJANTA, near the Old Panjim Bus Stand, just before you
new bridge over the Pato creek. Typical Pernem-style
Goan food. Simple, tasty fish-curry-rice. Spicy too.
A favourite when we worked nearby, when riceplates
were Rs 5 in the mid-eighties. We journos had this joke
about writing a book 'How To Get The Most For Rs 5 At
Ajanta'. Now, the standard meal costs Rs 20-25. The special
dishes (chicken, occasionally crab) are fiery hot and spicy.
o ALISHA, opposite the new Goa legislative assembly.
Both these above come from the cuisine of Hindu Goa
(there are some variants among this too, depending on
region, class and caste).
o SAROVAR. What can you get for Rs 20? Two parathas, butter-milk,
three curries, curd, rice, a sweetdish, pickle... Naturally
crowded in the afternoons. Even more naturally, the waiters
can be quite friendly since at this value-for-money it hardly hurts
to give a five rupee tip (great by local standards) each time!
o GENERALLY, almost every Udupi or 'Kamat' restaurant in
the state. This cuisine finds its origin outside Goa's borders,
along the south Karnataka coast. But, what the heck, the food
maintains its standards and taste, that even some among the
local Christian population (who's diet is or has been actually
non-vegetarian) have developed a taste for this.
Standard meals average Rs 20-30.
o THE LONE 'shack' (at the time of writing, 2003) on Siridao
beach. This fishing village is tucked away off the
Panjim-Margao highway, just before the Agaciam-Cortalim bridge.
Fish dishes, it's speciality naturally.
o 'HOTEL MANGALORE', by the roadside about a kilometre away
from Canacona's main tiny town, Chaudi. Don't get misled
by the term 'hotel', this is a roadside eatery. It's close to
Char Rasta, literally, Four Roads, the point where they
meet. Not to be confused with another restaurant of
the same name, that lies closer to the petrol pump.
The 2002-end prices were pegged at 'deluxe fish c. rice'
(the 'c' is for curry) at Rs 80, a semi-deluxe version
for half that price, and a 'local' equivalent
for one-fourth. Obviously chicken is its specialty.
o CHECK THE fish preparations of the restaurant that's under
the bridge at the Cortalim end. Traditional Catholic Goan
style, good value for money.
o CAFE PRAKASH, a tiny hole-in-the-wall in Panjim. Near the
Azad Maidan close to the ferry jetty. Nothing exceptional
here, except that some of us local journalists consider
it to be the "unofficial" press club of Goa each
evening (lots of gossip!) and you could dwadle over
a cup of tea (Rs 3) for three hours. No questions asked!
After circulating this short-list to a Internet-based mailing-list for
journalists in Goa (called Goajourno), a whole lot of other suggestions came
in. It would perhaps be unfair to overlook the favourite watering holes and
eating places of a number of well-travelled scribes from the state.
Reporter Mayabhushan Nagvenkar votes in favour of the oyster-masala at
Devata Cafe in Ribandar. Nadia V Menezes, an ex-Herald staffer now in
Mumbai, has her own entry for Number 11: "A home-cum-restaurant just behind
Kamat Restaurant (towards the old railway station) in Margao that serves
simply delicious, very coconutty-n-spicy fish curry rice." She's adds that
some time back a 'fish thali' used to go for Rs 15.
Vidya Heble, ex-Gomantak Times and now in Singapore, recommends
Anandasharam, located in the easy-to-get-lost-in lanes to the west of the
General Post Office. It's opposite Venite. She calls it a "no-frills,
no-pretences eatery ... (run by an elderly gent whom we called Kaka, or
Uncle, and who's) smile is still as welcoming and the fish still as
delicious". Naturally, you get better food in the afternoons, rather than
nights when business is slack in this government servant-dominated town.
Vidya mentions another great family-run place for fried prawns at the Nerul
Tinto, in Bardez.
Rash Deep, opposite the Land Survey Department, is a place for inexpensive
fish-curry-rice was also a journalists' favourite in the past.
Indian Express's former man-in-Goa Shiv Kumar had this to say: "Ask me guys!
I was scrounging around for some good value-for-money places in Panjim for
two years! My short list is tilted heavily in favor of seafood!"
"Ajanta is great. Could never have enough of the crabs and shellfish though
one had to go early in the afternoon. There is a tiny place next to
Sher-e-Panjab, Panjim (I think its called Excelsior or some fancy name) lots
and lots of fish freshly fried. One nameless shack a little down the Times
of India on the slope to Altinho almost near the market -- great fresh
coconut prawns curry and lots of fresh fish. For some reason, it's the best
place where the fresh fish goes best with the beer!"
Of course, there's a caveat: keep an eye closed with regard to the hygiene.
That holds for many of these places.
Shiv also says he chanced upon a home-cum-restaurant in Cuncolim "where on
some mornings they make you wait while the owner rushes to the market to get
some fish!" Another is a hole in the wall joint in St Inez that served
lovely home made food. But take care, for as Shiv says, not long back
another journo in Goa "called up from Goa to tell me the 'kokum' in the 'sol
kadi' turned out to be a big fat cockroach!"
Margao's Kamat Hotel has some good 'puri bhaji'. Shiv's other favourites
include the Khansamah at the Mollem forest guest house, which prepares "some
lovely fish, chicken and mutton for guests".
Another place opposite the Panjim mosque is Ghazali. "Lots of seating and
the food is home cooked. Again I know only about the seafood there. One time
I opened my wallet a bit, i found huge pomfret still cold from the freezer
at the core. But then in Goan restaurants one should buy only the moderately
priced stuff that go quickly off the shelf," says Shiv.
Via the Internet came a hint from Lawrence, who mentions Cafe Firdaus at the
Juma Masjid Road near Margao's old railway station. "It's a hole in the wall
joint, scruffy characters et al. The egg masala fry, kheema fry, and
parathas are superb. Rates almost half that of Aflatoon," claims Lawrence.
Can it be?
Says Mayabhushan: "It is a cardinal sin for a journalist (tee-totalers
included) to miss out Abel's Best In The World opposite the Gomantak office
at St Inez. Some of the finest grub. A limited menu and food which says eat
me. Guy called Ryan (Peter's son) runs it. Food... food... at night. Peter's
it has to be."
Other journalists too remember Peter's. Says Vidya: "I don't think any of
the old-timers (among journos) need to be told about Peter's! I don't think
I would go there now that the late Peter isn't around to say 'Saba!' at the
door and assure us that the chicken is 'best in the world today!' -- those
were indeed the days and they really will not return. Sad feeling."
Inacio Oliveira, earlier with Gomantak Times, tells of Bappa's Sukhi Bhaji
Pao at Merces that is "so special that even people from neighbouring
villages especilally visit the place".
Swapna Sardessai, one of the members of the founding team of Gomantak Times'
Weekender, says: "There's this 'gaddo' outside GMC that comes alive after 8
pm. The food is Chinese and simply too good. Stays open way past midnight."
Alisha, mentioned above and opposite the new Secretariat Complex, serves
great garlic naans, rawa fried 'chonak' fish and the 'tisreo' seafood and is
open till late. "On afternoons, the fish-curry rice is a treat. The view is
refreshing here. One gets to see a side of Panjim not visible from anyplace
else," says ex-journalist Swapna.
Coco Chin at St. Cruz 'bundh' overlooks green fields on all sides and serves
a great starter called chilli garlic potato. The rest of the Chinese grub
served here is good too.
One day, sitting at the Cafe Prakash -- our journalists' unofficial press
club -- we discussed various options. Like Marietta, for homely Catholic
non-veg food (the proprietor would translate your bill into paise, giving
the uninitiated a mild heart attack -- 3300 instead of Rs 33!). Or Uday
Upahargraha (below PTI, next to Navhind Times in the Panjim market area) for
its delicious prawn biryani. Bharat Lunch Home next to Ajanta is known for
its ginger soda.
Want something ultra cheap? Try Public Cafe, near Don Bosco's in Panjim.
Bhaji and parathas for Rs 7, and tea for Rs 2! Anything to beat that?
The KTC Bus Stand in Panjim has a Keralite called Babu selling white
'bhajjas', tomato omlette and onion pakodas. Allegro in Panjim and Anand in
the building somewhat grandiloquently renamed as 'Pudhari Bhavan' (it's home
to that newspaper's office) is also known for its Goan food and paraboiled
rice. Check out the 'kalva bhaji' at the restaurant near the Four Pillars.
At Bainguinim, on the way to Old Goa, Pritam is supposed to be even better
than STAR, both know for their Hindu styled tasty Goan fish.
For parathas try Everest at the old Cine El Dorado building. Daniel Fraguso
near the Taleigao's Church has had a reputation for home and party cooking.
Kumer, next to Alisha's, run by the kin of ex-MLA Babuso Gaonkar, is also
appreciated for its food. Taj next to Kalpatru offers special limbu soda,
big 'battatawadas' and mutton 'samosas'. Karishma is an interesting
Muslim-run outlet near Margao's old railway gate. Don't miss Fernando's at
Raia and Siddhi's Sukhi Bhaji-Usal.
Before ending, one must issue a statutory warning. These places are best
visited during peak hours, which usually means lunch-time. Reach there at 9
pm, and what could be a good (read tasty and crowded) eating-out place in
the afternoon could become a lousy place by evening, serving cold and
tasteless food as the clientel dwindles.
This listing has obviously missed out on a number of other worthy places
which do deserve a listing. Other candidates include the elderly man at the
Parra market, selling Goan fast food (boiled eggs, boiled peanuts, etc)...
The bias favouring Bardez and places around Panjim does show due to
geographical reasons. Your suggestions and tips for enhancing this listing
are more than welcome.
PS: I did not eat a free meal in any of these places...
--
Frederick Noronha : http://www.fredericknoronha.net : When we speak of free
Freelance Journalist : http://www.bytesforall.org : software we refer to
Ph 0091.832.2409490 : Cell 0 9822 122436 : freedom, not price.
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