India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [189]
WHERE TO DINE
Another downside of staying at the resorts—besides being totally cut off from the world you’ve come to visit—is that you’ll invariably be dining in-house. Not necessarily a bad thing, only you’ll miss some of the alternative culinary diversions on offer. So, if you are holed up at one of the big luxury pads, make a point of leaving the compound at least once in order to savor a meal that’s more down-home, perhaps, but more than likely a better match for authenticity.
MAJORDA, UTORDA & BETALBATIM
A little south of Majorda is the tiny stretch of sand known colloquially as “Sunset Beach,” but officially called Betalbatim. The little village is probably best known for its famous beachside restaurant, Martin’s Corner (Binvado, Betalbatim; 0832/288-0061 or -0413; daily 11am–3:30pm and 6:30–11pm), where Martin Pereira’s widow, Carafina, runs the kitchen with an iron fist. She began cooking wonderful dishes for this family restaurant back in 1994, when it opened with only two tables. Now Martin’s sons operate a successful and extremely popular courtyard establishment, surrounded by mango, coconut, and jackfruit groves. Order snapper recheado, butter-garlic prawns, or pomfret caldin made with a coconut milk curry. Carafina makes a mean homemade masala, prepared according to a secret family recipe with fresh Goan spices. After dark, things can hot up as popular bands really liven things up.
Zeebop by the Sea [moment]GOAN/SEAFOOD Midway between the Hyatt and Kenilworth resorts, and an easy bicycle ride from Vivenda do Palhaços, this is perhaps the best beach shack-style restaurant in Goa, although there’s no shack, and the crowd tends to be a good mix of savvy locals and tourists. White wooden tables are set among dugout canoes and huge cart wheels scattered across a large patch of flat sandy dune overlooking the water, a short distance away. Waiters in orange tropical shirts and black slacks scamper between the tables, serving up locally caught seafood like rock fish, zebra shark steak (try this grilled with garlic butter), silver pomfret, sea bass, red snapper, or whatever the fishermen have landed today. If you want to add a little zing to your fish, ask for it to be prepared with recheado spices. Lobster, peri-peri prawns, and a blow-out seafood platter are also available. The food doesn’t look like much on the plate, but somehow the chef coaxes very special flavors out of the meat and every morsel is melt-in-the-mouth succulent. As with any beach venue in Goa, get here before sunset and feast your eyes on the horizon, best accompanied by a supply of ice-cold beers. Avoid the “coffee.”
Near Kenilworth Beach Resort, Utorda. 0832/275-5333 or 982-215-4541. Main courses Rs 90–Rs 180. MC, V. Daily 9am–11pm. Closed late May to Aug.
Benaulim, Varca & Cavelossim
You can probably forgive yourself for choosing to sample at least one of the near-legendary eateries at the Taj Exotica. Alegria (daily 12:30–2:30pm and 7:30–10:30pm) is where the most delicious home-cooked Goan, Portuguese, and Hindu Goan Saraswat meals are prepared. Mainstay dishes include arroz de chorizo (traditional Goan pulao of locally made spice pork sausages), sungtache koddi (prawns in a fragrant gravy of coconut milk and mild spices), sungtache peri-peri (pan-fried farm-fresh prawn marinated with red chili and toddy vinegar), and kombdiche xacutti (succulent chicken morsels simmered in a blend of roasted spices with coconut). Upstairs, Miguel Arcanjo (same hours) makes some of the best pizzas in Goa. And that’s not all—for starters try the shrimp glazed with honey and garlic or the Lebanese mezze accompanied by horiatiki salad, followed by delicious double lamb chops or duck roasted with dry cherry sauce. Even the oven-baked snapper is irresistible. Finally, but most atmospherically,