Restaurants in North Goa
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A
German Bakery
Leafy and filled with prayer flags and jolly lights, this is a perfect place for a huge lunch chosen from an equally huge menu. Tofu balls in mustard sauce with parsley potatoes and salad is a piled-high winner at Rs150. Wi-fi is available for a fairly steep Rs100 per hour.
reviewed
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B
Sher-E-Punjab
A cut above the usual lunch joint, Sher-E-Punjab caters to well-dressed locals with its generous, carefully spiced Indian dishes. There’s a pleasant garden terrace out the back, and an icy AC room if you’re feeling sticky. Try the delicious paneer tikka (Rs90) but note, if you’re hungering for snacks, that the fish fingers and chicken fingers are ‘seasonal only’.
reviewed
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Hotel Venite Restaurant
With colourful graffiti covered walls and half a dozen tiny balconies hanging over the street this Latin flavoured restaurant is the perfect spot to pause for one of their delicious milkshakes and a light snack.
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Cafe Orange Boom
Just past Cafe Diogo, on the opposite side of the road, this nice little place has good food and friendly service, with a useful noticeboard for catching up on Anjunan goings-on.
reviewed
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Republic of Noodles
For a sophisticated dining experience, the RoN delivers with its dark bamboo interior, Buddha heads and floating candles. Delicious, huge noodle plates are the order of the day, and if you’re feeling flush there’s an exquisite brunch on Sunday mornings: Rs1200 buys you an extensive southeast Asian buffet, along with unlimited Mimosas and Bloody Marys.
reviewed
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E
Fellini
A long-standing Italian joint, perfect for when you’re craving a carbonara or calzone, Fellini delivers all your wood-fired pizza and fresh pasta requirements in the thick of the Arambol action.
reviewed
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La Plage
La Plage is renowned by those in the know, and has been dishing up sumptuous gourmet Mediterranean food in simple surroundings since 2003, concocted by a genuine French chef.
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Le Bluebird
This is an oddly situated and unusually classy French restaurant that does fine dining in a great outdoor area. Francophiles can enjoy imported wine here, and there's a good selection of vegetarian dishes on offer.
reviewed
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Hospedaria Venite
Along with Viva Panjim, this is without doubt the lunch address to which most tourists head, and, though the food isn’t exactly excellent, the atmosphere warrants the visit. Its tiny, rickety balcony tables, which look out onto pastel-washed 31st January Rd, make the perfect lunchtime spot, and the Goan chouriços (spiced sausages; Rs145) and vegetable vindaloo (Rs95) are really pretty tasty. Order a cold beer or two, munch on a slightly ’70s-style salad (think cold boiled vegetables in vinaigrette) and watch lazy Panaji slip by.
reviewed
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Cidade de Goa
After a day of poking about the coastline, a good place to recover before heading homeward is at one of the eight restaurants at this swanky village-style place, designed by renowned Goan architect Charles Correa, close to Dona Paula in the village of Vainguinim. Chow down at its Portuguese-themed Alfama restaurant, which comes complete with wandering minstrels, or just drop in for a cool sundowner at the Bar Latino.
reviewed
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Om Ganesh
Rush here just before sunset to garner one of a few tiny tables within splashing distance of the waves, or sit back and enjoy the view from a drier aspect. This place sports a pages-long menu offering almost every cuisine under the sun: try a tasty Tibetan thukpa (noodle soup), or while away the hours decoding more cryptic entries, such as the Mexican ‘ Gokomadi ’.
reviewed
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H
Om Made Cafe
A highlight on Anjuna’s clifftop strip, this cheery little place offers striped deckchairs from which to enjoy the views and the simple, sophisticated breakfasts, sandwiches and salads. Go for a raw papaya salad with ginger and lemongrass (Rs170), accompanied by a chickoo (small, sweet fruit of the sapodilla tree) and coconut smoothie or a glass of ‘perfumed water’ (Rs20).
reviewed
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Veg Baba
This spanking new place down a side street off 18th June Rd dishes up delicious Indian vegetarian delights of all descriptions, and is friendly, cheerful and efficient. A self-declared ‘meat-free zone’, it’s clean, cool and blessed with a good line in proverbs: ‘An elephant is 50 times stronger,’ it reminds us sagely, ‘It is vegetarian.’
reviewed
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Simply Fish
Simply Fish, of all the restaurants on offer, is the one to plump for, offering up such exotic fishy delights as lobster cappuccino and mud-crab xacuti (a spicy chicken or meat dish with coconut milk). Otherwise, lunch or even just a drink at the all-day Waterfront Terrace and Bar is a more simple, similarly soothing pleasure.
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K
Viva Panjim
Though it might be more than a touch touristy these days, this little side-street eatery, with a couple of tables out on the street itself, nevertheless still delivers tasty Goan staples, as well as the standard range of Indian fare. Keep an eye out in the dim interior for Mrs Linda de Souza, restaurant founder and doughty matriarch.
reviewed
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Zen Restaurant
The welcoming statement that the Chinese will eat anything with four legs but a table and anything with two wings but a plane does make you ponder what 'delicacy' might emerge from the kitchens next, but rest assured that this stylish new joint avoids anything dodgy and just sticks to praise-winning Chinese and Thai staples.
reviewed
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Martha’s Breakfast Home
As the name suggests, Martha’s speciality are her all-day breakfasts, served up in a quiet garden on the way down to the flea-market site. The porridge and juice may be mighty tasty, but the star of the breakfast parade is undoubtedly the piping-hot plates of waffles, just crying out to be smothered in real maple syrup.
reviewed
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M
Shimon
If you can navigate the sometimes surly service, Israeli-owned Shimon’s is a good place to fill up on a tasty felafel (Rs70) before hitting the beach. For something more unusual, go for sabich (Rs70), crisp slices of eggplant stuffed into pitta bread along with boiled egg, boiled potato, salad and spicy relish.
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Hotel Vrundavan
An all-veg place bordering the Municipal Gardens, this is a great place for a hot chai and a quick breakfast. Dip your pau (fluffy white bread roll) or puri (deep-fried, puffed-up bread) into a cashew nut bhaji (small curry) for just Rs10, or try the tomato version for a more modest Rs9.
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A Reverie
A gorgeous lounge bar, all armchairs, cool jazz and sparkling crystals, this is the place to spoil yourself, with the likes of Serrano ham, grilled asparagus, French wines and Italian cheeses. Try the delectable forest-mushroom soup with truffle oil (Rs255) or go for a bowl of wasabi-flavoured guacamole (Rs215).
reviewed
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Quarterdeck
Watch crammed passenger ferries and hulking casino boats chug by from a waterside table at this open-air ‘multicuisine’ restaurant perched on the Mandovi banks. There’s a small playground for children and the multicuisine is tasty enough, though the location is without doubt the restaurant’s biggest drawcard.
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Horse Shoe
A well-respected, sweet little Goan-Portuguese place, this is a simple but romantic choice for some traditional dishes and a nice bottle of Portuguese wine. At the time of research Horse Shoe was open for dinner only (7pm to 10.30pm; bookings advised) but this might change, so call ahead to be sure.
reviewed
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Ruchira Restaurant
On the top floor of Hotel Satyaheera, this place is very popular with tourists and is widely deemed one of Mapusa’s best restaurants, serving Indian and Continental dishes. Though the views alone make a visit worthwhile, beware the occasional slightly bewildered, lacklustre service.
reviewed
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Gujarat Sweet Mart
If you’re possessed with a sweet tooth, here’s the place to indulge it, with a panoply of Indian confectioneries of the sweet, sweeter and sweetest varieties. Wash all that decadence down with a thick milkshake or lassi, which also come in an array of heavenly, sugary flavours.
reviewed
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Cafe Diogo
Probably the best fruit salads in the world are sliced and diced at Cafe Diogo, a small locally run cafe on the way down to the market. Also worth a try are the generous toasted avocado, cheese and mushroom sandwiches, the jumbo fry-ups, and the unusual gooseberry lassi.
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