A slew of new menus, from Japanese yakitori to Goan-inspired modern flavours, have popped up in some of Goa’s most popular neighbourhoods. Here’s this season’s freshest tables.
Tereza Beach House by Sly Granny, Reis Magos.
“Nestled in a beach house on the waterfront of Coco Beach, this ‘beach shack’ is nothing like you’ve seen before in Goa. A thatched roof, cane furniture, hand-made lamps, neutral shades of earth give you the shack-like feeling without the shack-like food. This open-air 136 seater houses an oven purely dedicated to pizza lovers, a central square for live performances (a three-piece jazz band was lighting up the mood as we walked in) and a well-defined bar for those who’d like a cocktail or two before taking to a more formal style of dining.”
Elaa Café, Anjuna
Head chef at Goa’s popular modern Indian restaurant Mahé, Sandeep Sreedharan’s latest offering is the pretty Elaa Café, set in a garden at boutique resort The Hammock. With a focus on responsible sourcing, most of the menu is vegan, with some seafood entries. “While Mahé draws its inspiration from across India, Elaa zooms in on Goa. Cashew pops up in various forms: as a jammy, miso flavoured topping for local sweet potato on a rechade base, and as a ‘faux’ mayo for the house-smoked mackerel poi. The crispy, crunchy local sweet potato with that umami filled cashew cream is a star.”
Izumi, Assagao
“Set in the incredibly lush boutique guesthouse Botanique—run by incredibly chic model-turned-entrepreneur Carol Maria Gracias and husband Samuel Ziza. The indoor-outdoor setting is perfect to sip on a shiso negroni or the Miso & Peat, a whisky cocktail made by a technique called fat washing wherein dark miso and butter are mixed with Scotch, then frozen and distilled.In fact, the bar program is what distinguishes the Goa outpost from the Bandra one. Arijit Bose and Pankaj Balachandran, the whiz kids from Countertop and the award-winning South Goa bar Tesouro have conjured up an incredible cocktail menu using Japanese ingredients like shiso leaves, sakura cordial and of course, the miso-washed whisky. Chef Nooresha Kably and husband Anil Kably (of Mumbai’s Zenzi and Bagel Shop) opened the first Izumi off Mumbai’s Carter Road with partner Neale Murray of Fountainhead. When they moved to their current Bandra location, partner Owen Roncon joined. Nooresha went to Tokyo Sushi Academy and then a ramen school in Yokohama. This yearning for authenticity is best seen in Izumi’s sushi.”
Soul Fry Goa, Baga
“Meldan D’Cunha has just brought his signature Bandra party to Goa. When D’Cunha started the restaurant in 1999 in Bandra, Mumbai, he wanted to offer people a taste of Goa, adding other coastal flavours (Koli, Mangalorean, Malvani) along the way. It wasn’t just about good food, but a wholesome dining experience. And now he wants to replicate the model in Goa. Susegado Microbrewery’s eight beers are on tap, along with Kingfisher. The food menu doesn’t stray too far from the parent one, with a familiar mix of Goan, Bengali, Malvani and Mangalorean dishes.”
Makutsu, Panaji
“Makutsu, which translates to ‘den of thieves’, is on the corner by Antonio’s@31, chef Pablo Miranda’s first, hugely popular, Panjim restaurant,” writes Roshni Bajaj-Sanghvi in her review for CNT. “If Antonio’s put 31 January Road in Fontainhas on India’s culinary map, Makutsu reaffirms it. If Antonio’s fun, friendly vibe transports guests to Lisbon, then dark, edgy, sexy Makutsu takes us to the izakayas of Kyoto’s geisha-district Gion, or to the four-seater bars in the network of alleyways in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai. Minimalist, pale, boxy wooden chairs and tables sit under single-light metal lamps that make the food look good and the people cinematic. Harvested edible seaweed, sourced from Gabriella D’Cruz, founder of conservation consultancy The Good Ocean, is merely one element of surprise in a series of uncomplicated, astonishing plates off Miranda’s Makutsu menu. One page of two is dedicated to yakitori: Japanese for lightly marinated morsels of meat and vegetables skewered on short kushi sticks and charcoal grilled on a hibachi (Japanese for ‘fire bowl’). Goa’s beloved beef tongue, and pink-centred slices of duck are exquisitely cooked, lush, and wildly satisfying. Vegetarians get eight options that are treated with equal affection.”
Elephant & Co., Anjuna
Elephant & Co. is founded by Karan Khilnani, Anuj Solanki and Karan Kulkarni. The Goan outpost of the Pune gastropub aims to be a friendly neighbourhood bar offering up cocktails alongside everything from all-day breakfast to bar nibbles like mushroom and cheese rissois and pork sausage fries, and large plates like herb-crusted kingfish with choriz risotto.
Vedro, Panaji
Chefs Maia Laifungbam and Sanchit Bahl’s soon-to-open Vedro will highlight Indian flavours in its “eccentric cuisine”. It is set to open doors on 13 April. With tropical-inspired decor by Sussanne Khan, this is the season’s buzziest opening.
Source: CN Traveller ( https://www.cntraveller.in/story/7-new-goa-restaurants-to-try-now-panaji-baga-assagao-anjuna/)
