Sipping on kokum feni: Goa’s new restaurants are now wooing locals with creative regional menus

Goa-based writer Vikram Doctor, observes, “I think some restaurants came close to shutting down, but were saved by the fact that the winter season, where most make their profits, came between the two waves so they have been able to scrape through. Now they are expecting to do well, with everyone who can’t go abroad, coming to Goa.” He adds, “In some ways, I think, being tested by the lockdown has actually been good for Goa’s restaurants. It has forced them to develop takeaway menus that are really good, not just afterthoughts. It also made them find ways to appeal more to local, long-term customers — not just transient tourists — and to use locally sourced produce, not just stuff brought in, which they’ve realised can get cut off due to pandemic restrictions.”

Goa’s appetite for new age restaurants continued during the pandemic, even though business took a hit. At a prominent corner of Anjuna, bright yellow Maka Zai emerged in late 2020. It made its mark with hip Asian food — including a Goan-inspired sloppy Joe called baoee — cutting-edge mixology with cocktails like Trouble (tequila, tamarind, fresh coriander and sea salt), and a relaxed atmosphere.

At Mosaic Anjuna, another opening, diners can enjoy prawn omelette tacos, Andhra tendli pepper fry and raw jackfruit croquettes while sipping quirky cocktails.

Entrepreneur and restaurateur Manav Chadha, the man behind Maka Zai, says, “Concept restaurants are the new age bars. Goa’s tourists are well-travelled and know their food. People are more willing to try local cuisine or regional specialities today.” And by the looks of it, they are willing to pay top dollar.

Diners, according to Chadha, have primarily been those who are on ‘workacations’ or ‘staycations’ and take a break by dining out in the Anjuna-Assagao belt, or the tourists who have just begun to come in.

The susegado (relaxed, laidback) village of Assagao, essentially a sunken valley, is home to some of Goa’s best restaurants and cafes. It continues to enhance its culinary status with new openings. Exuding a rustic chic vibe with a handcrafted fuchsia-bougainvillea chandelier embellishing the alpendre or porch, patchwork walls adorned with traditional Indian elements and glistening copper tableware, stands Jamun, opened in December 2019. Adapting and reinterpreting Indian flavours and celebrating their diversity, the simple food, sans gimmicks, has caught the fancy of diners. A Beetroot galouti kebab, coated with popped amaranth seeds, dressed with avocado chilli and a crunchy fried curry leaf, is among the best-sellers.

The shacks may be mostly shut, awaiting foreign tourists, but locals and travellers still have a rapidly increasingly list of places to dine at. Chef Rahul Gomes Pereira aka Chef Picu of Jamun Goa, which opened in December 2019, says, “Clients who usually dine at global restaurants, have found their way to Goa and are spending top dollar on food and beverage.”

Gin bars and innovative cocktails are also wowing diners. Edible Archives, an ingredient-centric restaurant, offers plant-based cocktails like bimli urrak, teffal vodka, and kokum feni, all with seasonal ingredients in keeping with Chef Anumitra Ghosh’s philosophy. She says, “Regional Indian food is not only popular, but also getting prepped for a cosmopolitan crowd.”

At the packed Tamil Table which opened this March, apart from unique food which includes duck pakodas and coconut milk pulao, a curry leaf gin and tonic stands cheek by jowl with a peanut whiskey sour. The purple-hued, signature cocktail ‘jamun’, served with a gin base, allures diners at Jamun.

Meanwhile, at Chef Pablo Miranda’s tapas bar in Panjim — Antonio 31 — gin infusions with butterfly pea flower, accompanied with crispy baitfish and truffle mushroom rissois (a crumb-fried Goan and Portugese snack), are a hit.

Regional rules

Chef Picu is of the opinion that Goa has evolved and restaurants like Jamun, are being appreciated. “Modern adaptions to cuisines is a dying trend. Authentic, traditional and historically relevant food, is the new game,” he says.

Perhaps that explains why Goan cuisine is being rediscovered with a vengeance. Cavatina, serving contemporary Goan food in quieter South Goa, attracts diners from touristy North Goa too. What’s more, even after re-opening to 50% capacity, it is doing brisk business.

Cavatina’s founder-Chef Avinash Martins says, “The trend of people hiring large villas as a family or friends’ group and inviting chefs to curate special meals is fast growing. I have done many such meals for guests from across India, who are willing to spend and experiment with local cuisine.”

He adds, “Goa, for the last year-and-a-half, has been a second home to the entire country.”

Banana wrapped fish with rechado verde, pumpkin cashew nut mash, coconut cauda at Cavatina, Goa
 
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement