5 Places to Eat in Goa

A holiday had long been overdue after I had been slogging for about two months. Now when you just have to sit and chill, the auto select mode picks Goa as your holiday destination. My plan was simple – “Eat, drink, chill, Repeat.” Yes, the priorities were set well in advance and top of the list was ‘Eat’. My gang and I had picked a favorite spot to eat for each day in Goa. So now for those of you asked “where to eat in Goa” you got your answers in this post + a wonderful foodacation as well!

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Warning – This is not a top 5 but 5 spots I would definitely recommend all of you readers to try and visit while you visit Goa!

Thalassa

Thalaassa is a place like no other and falls under the must visit places to eat in Goa. Situated on the top of a hill, it offers one of the best sunset views in Goa!! Thalassa had become a part of every conversation when we were planning for Goa and we could not have left it! Thalassa is an experience!!

This place is run by the lovely Mariketty from Greece who was kind enough to give us company through most part of the meals. She had us glued to both the food her staff prepared as well as her jokes. We ordered many things but my personal favorite was Fried Feta Pastry which turned out to be a surprise. If you are going to Thalasssa visit in the evening just before the sunset. Order the Thalassa Sunset (a refreshing and strong cocktail) and some starters and enjoy the sunset. We ordered the Lamb Kebabs, Roast Lamb and a big Mezze Platter. I would suggest you to end the meal with Chocolate Baklava or their very popular Chocolate Mousse Cake.

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5 Places to Eat in Goa: Fried Feta Pastry at Thalassa

P.S. Visit on a Friday evening for Live Music don’t forget to reserve your table in advance.

Small Vagator, Ozran, Near Nine Bar, Vagator, Goa

Morgan’s Place

A hidden find!! Goa is all about it’s quirkiness with its wall arts, colorful Royal Enfields on the road, cool shacks…..Morgan’s Place takes it on the level. This café is based on the theme of Alice in Wonderland and is a delight for all book lovers. The walls, tables, menu and even the bill boxes are all based on the theme of Alice in Wonderland. The creativity gone in the cafe is amazing. I could sit for hours here and play the many games left for the visitors.

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5 Places to Eat in Goa: Morgan’s Place

Morgan’s Place has a beautiful sitting area. We enjoyed American and Continental breakfasts with our share of Iced and hot coffee. To have a bit of healthy food we also went for their fresh fruit bowl. Deepak, one of the kind ownerss, told us about their wood fired pizza! I had heard really wow reviews about their pizzas but sadly, we were a little early to have pizza as we went around the time for breakfast. But it is surely on my list for next visit. Morgan’s Place has a great bookshelf too with everything beyond Alice in Wonderland.

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5 Places to Eat in Goa: Morgan’s Place

If this name rings a bell in your head, yes there is a Morgan’s Café in Dharamkot, Mcleodganj as well.

No.66, Chogm Road, Sangolda, Penha de França, Goa 

House of Lloyds

First things first! The drive to House of Lloyds might seem to be right out of a Hollywood horror movie but do not worry because this one will definitely have a happy ending with some delicious food waiting for you! House of Lloyds is located in an old Portuguese Villa which also has a chapel in the premises. Very close to Baga and Calangute, this place is a secret…shhhhh…. It is set up with a collection of bikes that belong to Mr. Lloyd himself.  If you are a Martini lover and you like experimenting with your cocktails, order their Tamarind Martini. Simply made with a strong taste and good composition. We tried their stuffed crabs and mango avacado salad. The former was a stylish appetizer while the latter was refreshingly light and thoroughly enjoyable.

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5 Places to Eat in Goa: House of Llyods

I would like to dedicate this small paragraph specially to the Fish Curry with Rice. Probably one of the best from my experiences!! A true Goan experience, deliciously flavorful and mildly spicy just to my liking. If you are in House of Llyods, do try it and I would even suggest you to get some packed for the road.

House of Llyods has excellent service and amazing DJ!! Our night would have been incomplete had DJ Sahil not been there. He was belting some lovely numbers throughout, reminding all of us of our college days.

Near candolim church, Pilerne Industrial Estates, Goa

Fisherman’s Wharf

The best meal in South Goa that I had was at Fisherman’s Wharf! A meal comprised of all the special dishes that we associate with Goan Food. We ate Masala Fried Calamari, Sea Devil, Pork Vindaloo, Crab Curry, Prawn Curry and of course the Bebinca (a Goan cake). Fisherman’s Wharf is located on the river Sal on opposite a fisherman’s wharf. It has top notch ambience, location, service and food! It is a very calming experience to just be there and sit alongside still waters and watch the boats bob. This is definitely one of the best places to eat in Goa.

The staff was very kind to recommend us their best preparations and also guide me with my crab curry. My favorite pick was Masala Calamari which does total justice to the word ‘Masala’ prefixed to it. The flavours were a delight! I also loved the crab curry.  Fisherman’s Wharf is open around the year and they have two restaurants in Goa, one in Panjim and second in Cavelossim. We visited the latter.

Mobor Beach, Cavelossim, Goa

Magic Italy

While walking around at Palolem Beach, you will see many restaurants / cafes boasting to serve authentic Italian food. Well, I got you covered on this. Thank me later for making it easier for you because there is only one place which serves the best Italian meal – Magic Italy!! Run by an Italian lady who has been living in India since 20 years, Magic Italy is super authentic Italian pizzeria!! The owner and her daughter actually take care of the kitchen and makes fresh hand rolled pasta and pizza.

We ordered a pizza (with ingredients coming from Italy), ravioli with pesto and a plate of bruschetta! The ravioli was so fresh and authentic! The owner’s daughter, Suriya, understands Hindi and speaks very well herself. She chatted with us a little about the place. She told us that they visit Italy every year and remain closed from about April to September. So please plan accordingly. Also, they only take cash and do not accept cards.

260 Main Road, Palolem Beach Street, Palolem, Canacona, Goa

Hope you enjoyed this post on where to eat in Goa. Remember that not ‘everything that happens in Goa stays in Goa’!!

‘Smaaash’ing the weekend away

My brother and I had been looking for a chance to sneak away from too many friends and spend a brothers’ day out. The weekend before Christmas while he prepared to head back to his home town on Sunday, we decided to head to Smaaash on Saturday.

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Before visiting Smaaash, the only reason why it brought a smile on to my face was that it is co-owned by none other than the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar. Smaaash is located at four locations in Delhi and NCR region. The one in Sector 29 Gurgaon also boasts of a Go-Karting track which is next on my list after this visit. We visited the one in Cyber Hub.

Personally, I am not someone who jumps out of the seat on the name of a visit to a gaming arcade. However, this visit might change my opinion about such places.

Smaaash offers so many types of entertainment options that no one from the family can get bored. The kids can have a lot of fun at the Arcade Zone with so much to choose from. The youngsters can enjoy the bowling, the pool table, the cricket nets and gulp down a few beers along with the oldies of the family.

Smaaash has a lot of the virtual reality games which eventually turned out to be my favourite. We started with the roller coaster ride. What fun it was and yes for the first few seconds, I was wishing if someone could press the stop button. Guess what, this was one experience which we came back to at the end after trying many other games. Among other virtual reality options, I would recommend the Jurassic Park and Vertigo. The latter is sure to give you a lot of funny experiences to laugh about later. My only wish, if only haunted hospital really felt scary. While playing the virtual reality games we did have a few beers from the bar. Just added to the real feel. 😊

 

Done with the virtual reality, we headed for a game of bowling. No prizes for guessing, I lost. I enjoy bowling a lot but I always feel that it ends too soon. Especially for someone like me who hardly gets a strike and gets no extra chances at the end. Nonetheless a great experience. Love the atmosphere at the bowling alleys with those radiating carpets and neon lit alleys.

One of the most popular experience at Smaaash is the cricket. You can experience a very enjoyable cricket net session with different bowlers from around the world. Believe you me, it will not be as easy as you think. There is one very interesting story that I heard and even witnessed. One fine gentleman visits Smaaash every Saturday and plays cricket in these nets for 3-4 hours. Now that is called passion.

Smaaash also has many other games such as the very popular Air Hockey, basketball, crashing cars, car and bike racing and much much more. We tried many more and I do recommend this place to you for a good family day out.

Smaaash also has two restaurants by the name of Unforked Bar and Café. One side of the restaurant is more of a pub with good music and big screens to catch up on all the sporting action live. The second restaurant offers a more silent ambiance for those family conversations, gossips and loud jokes. We ordered a Deconstructed Chicken Chaat and a Mezze platter to start with. Both these went well with the beer. I just wish the Chicken inside the nachos was served a little warm to make it more delicious. Post this, we also tried the Paneer Kathi Wrap. The presentation of the wrap was a pleasant surprise. The taste was a little extra spicy so make sure you highlight your preference to the chef in advance. We ended our meal with the Chicken nuggets and The Smaaash Lovers Pizza. The expectation was very high from the pizza since it is named after Smaaash. Fresh veggies but the crust could have been better.

While all the excitement of the games took over our minds, we forgot to order desserts. Now that clearly explains the good time we had at Smaaash. I think going forward I might just jump out of the seat if someone offers me a visit to Smaaash. The excitement will be higher when I visit the Go Karting in Sector 29 Gurgaon.

 

Delhi Chronicles of Chai and Coffee

Good evening, everyone! I know it’s been long since I blogged but life is catching up on me. How have you been?? It’s an autumn/winter-ish weather in Delhi and I thought of sharing with you my rounds of chai/coffee. Have a great day wherever you are!

If you are on Instagram, you know what to do 🙂

Food Tales from Bunta Bar, Janpath

I had the chance to visit Bunta Bar at Janpath, Delhi on a blistering afternoon last week. The place was exceptionally quiet except for the light music in the background. The interiors were pretty and there is a huge space divided in two floors.

I started with “Banta”- a popular carbonated drink of India that is usually served in lemon flavor. It contains salt and spices along with crushed ice and is quite popular as a quick go to option.

At Bunta Bar (Bunta is spelled differently here), it was available in different flavors here and that is their USP, hence the name. The staff is very polite and recommends you to try new dishes.

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My Bunta is here!

With my Banta, I ordered paneer tikka and arnacini as starters-both delicious and fresh. I especially enjoyed the arancini which were given a little Indian twist as they were stuffed with kidney beans made in local style.

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Paneer tikka

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Arancini with kidney beans (rajma)

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Pretty plating

I ended the afternoon with a margherita pizza- simple and classic with tons of cheese.

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WANT! NEED!

Are you hungry yet??

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All About Pizza: An Insta Story

Sometimes I am amazed at Delhi, the city that I have now been calling home since 2010.

Why am I amazed??

Simply because of the number of options it gives me for food! And for PIZZA!

If you search for pizza in Delhi, a whole new world that opens up! You will get a variety of pizzas in every size, shape and errr color. And let me tell you, no two pizzas are ever alike. You will agree with me at the end of the post 🙂

Do you agree with me??