This recent trip to Goa was one of the most fun and 'event'ful trips I've ever had. With a total of 72 hrs of train journey intercepted by fun bike rides in the rain, it was magical. Goa was ethereal in the rains..absolutely fresh and green, rolling hills and fun beaches. As usual, I went armed with a list of the 'where-to-eat' joints. However, given the time and other constraints, there are only two I could manage. So here they go:
Walk Inn-It did not feature in my to-eat list. But there are reasons. This is a quaint little restaurant tucked away on the road adjoining Baga beach just adjacent to Britto's. Initially we had gone to Britto's for lunch, post our beach frolic. However, a certain group of college students on a budget found it difficult to afford and we moved out to this one. We ordered fish curry meals, a chicken curry meal and a chicken vindaloo. What's Goa without vindaloo ?? I was really curious to try it out.
First came the fish curry, lovely tender fish doused in coconut milk and a little kokum. It was beautiful. Btw, I hate fish. But this was adorable. The coconut was amazing and the mild tempering was so inviting, we finished the rice in no time.
The chicken curry, I must admit was just about average. In fact, it was a tad bit disappointing. However, when I tried the vindaloo, all my worries about chicken vanished. It was tangy, spicy, exciting. 'Tangy' was the predominant feeling. After the soothing slumber of the coconut milk, the tatsebuds suddenly jump started. It was worth polishing off every last grain of rice.
We were so happy with the food that we ordered another dish. This time a tandoori fish. Tuna it was. It took a long time to come, but worth the wait. It looked splendid when it arrived at the table. However, a couple of bites revealed that I had had tinned tuna for so long that, the freshness actually assaulted my tastebuds. Sadly, tuna extracted from brine and baked into my sandwich is more my type than fresh, crispy, yummy tuna. However, overall it was great experience and I think we had a mindblowing glimpse of Goan cuisine. Highly recommended restaurant - Do drop in if you visit Baga beach. It's cheap and oh-so-yummy.
Britto's - Ah well !!! Who doesn't know about Britto's ?? That's what I thought before I conversed with the three non-foodies who went with me on the trip. I still have hope that at least the foodies who have been to Goa know about it. One of the highlights of my first Goa trip is definitely this one. As I mentioned before, we couldn't afford lunch there. However, we did in fact come back for desert. And thank God we did !!! When we were choosing the deserts from the ones kept at the display there, I actually felt like Alice in Wonderland. :) I wanted a bit of this, a bit of that and a lot of everything.
Finally, we did manage to narrow it down to 4, one for each one of us. Ratan wanted a coffee desert, so I made him take a tiramisu. Swarnabha took the walnut-chocolate mousse and Sachin took the more chocolatey Alpine chocolate mousse. However, somewhere I felt that a it would be injustice to have a cold desert at a place known for its sweet nothings since 1965. So I went for an apple pie slice with whipped cream. When the orders came, it looked something like this:
Corner left upper - Tiramisu
Corner left lower - Walnut chocolate mousse
Centre - Apple pie with whipped cream
Rightmost - Alpine chocolate mousse
Now for the reviews:
Tiramisu - As coffee-ish as it can get. The perfect balance of coffee liquor and cream, not too bitter or nauseating. However, I prefer my tiramisu the traditional way - with a biscotti base rather than a sponge cake base. That was the only hitch in this otherwise flawless desert. Even the garnishing was awesome. The problem, sometimes in tiramisu is, when you sprinkle the coffee on top of the last cream layer, the specks smudge a bit, losing the sharpness. I do not know how they managed it, maybe it was correct cooling. But there was zero smudging and the tiramisu looked sensational.
Walnut chocolate mousse - Anything with walnuts and chocolate cannot go wrong, can it? It had cake, cream and chips - all in chocolate. The mousse layers was fluffy, dark and sinful. It was just fine, although it could have been a tad more light. It's just a matter of beating the egg whites a bit more. Otherwise, perfect.
Alpine chocolate mousse - Same as above, but with an additional chocolate layer substituting the walnnut one. Personally I preferred the former, since the walnut offset the overdose of chocolate.
Apple pie with whipped cream - The only warm desert on the table, it was my favourite. The rest didn't like it as much, but since I am a huge apple pie fan, I loved it. To begin with, the serving temperature was perfect. The pie just warm enough and the cream just chilled enough. Next, the consistency was correct. One of the greatest challenges in a fruit pie is the consistency. The fruit should just lose the crispness, but should not turn into mulch. It was perfect in this aspect. the apples were soft, flavourful and yet retained their shape and firmness. The pie crust was thin and yummy. And along with that, the cream was fresh and airy. Kinda reminded of Wimbledon, the strawberries and cream we see there. The slight sweetness of the cream went very well with the light tang of the fruitiness of the apple.
On the way out we took a couple of sticks of rum-n-raisin and chocolate brownies. The chocolate one was good, but usual. But the real rum in the other one reminded me of christmas. :)
I'm gonna go back there some day, in winter, just to try their world famous strawberry tart. Do not miss it for anything.
Walk Inn-It did not feature in my to-eat list. But there are reasons. This is a quaint little restaurant tucked away on the road adjoining Baga beach just adjacent to Britto's. Initially we had gone to Britto's for lunch, post our beach frolic. However, a certain group of college students on a budget found it difficult to afford and we moved out to this one. We ordered fish curry meals, a chicken curry meal and a chicken vindaloo. What's Goa without vindaloo ?? I was really curious to try it out.
First came the fish curry, lovely tender fish doused in coconut milk and a little kokum. It was beautiful. Btw, I hate fish. But this was adorable. The coconut was amazing and the mild tempering was so inviting, we finished the rice in no time.
The chicken curry, I must admit was just about average. In fact, it was a tad bit disappointing. However, when I tried the vindaloo, all my worries about chicken vanished. It was tangy, spicy, exciting. 'Tangy' was the predominant feeling. After the soothing slumber of the coconut milk, the tatsebuds suddenly jump started. It was worth polishing off every last grain of rice.
Britto's - Ah well !!! Who doesn't know about Britto's ?? That's what I thought before I conversed with the three non-foodies who went with me on the trip. I still have hope that at least the foodies who have been to Goa know about it. One of the highlights of my first Goa trip is definitely this one. As I mentioned before, we couldn't afford lunch there. However, we did in fact come back for desert. And thank God we did !!! When we were choosing the deserts from the ones kept at the display there, I actually felt like Alice in Wonderland. :) I wanted a bit of this, a bit of that and a lot of everything.
Finally, we did manage to narrow it down to 4, one for each one of us. Ratan wanted a coffee desert, so I made him take a tiramisu. Swarnabha took the walnut-chocolate mousse and Sachin took the more chocolatey Alpine chocolate mousse. However, somewhere I felt that a it would be injustice to have a cold desert at a place known for its sweet nothings since 1965. So I went for an apple pie slice with whipped cream. When the orders came, it looked something like this:
Corner left upper - Tiramisu
Corner left lower - Walnut chocolate mousse
Centre - Apple pie with whipped cream
Rightmost - Alpine chocolate mousse
Now for the reviews:
Tiramisu - As coffee-ish as it can get. The perfect balance of coffee liquor and cream, not too bitter or nauseating. However, I prefer my tiramisu the traditional way - with a biscotti base rather than a sponge cake base. That was the only hitch in this otherwise flawless desert. Even the garnishing was awesome. The problem, sometimes in tiramisu is, when you sprinkle the coffee on top of the last cream layer, the specks smudge a bit, losing the sharpness. I do not know how they managed it, maybe it was correct cooling. But there was zero smudging and the tiramisu looked sensational.
Walnut chocolate mousse - Anything with walnuts and chocolate cannot go wrong, can it? It had cake, cream and chips - all in chocolate. The mousse layers was fluffy, dark and sinful. It was just fine, although it could have been a tad more light. It's just a matter of beating the egg whites a bit more. Otherwise, perfect.
Alpine chocolate mousse - Same as above, but with an additional chocolate layer substituting the walnnut one. Personally I preferred the former, since the walnut offset the overdose of chocolate.
Apple pie with whipped cream - The only warm desert on the table, it was my favourite. The rest didn't like it as much, but since I am a huge apple pie fan, I loved it. To begin with, the serving temperature was perfect. The pie just warm enough and the cream just chilled enough. Next, the consistency was correct. One of the greatest challenges in a fruit pie is the consistency. The fruit should just lose the crispness, but should not turn into mulch. It was perfect in this aspect. the apples were soft, flavourful and yet retained their shape and firmness. The pie crust was thin and yummy. And along with that, the cream was fresh and airy. Kinda reminded of Wimbledon, the strawberries and cream we see there. The slight sweetness of the cream went very well with the light tang of the fruitiness of the apple.
On the way out we took a couple of sticks of rum-n-raisin and chocolate brownies. The chocolate one was good, but usual. But the real rum in the other one reminded me of christmas. :)
I'm gonna go back there some day, in winter, just to try their world famous strawberry tart. Do not miss it for anything.
