In today's episode, Anubhav has joined Raul and Mack from the Local Beat, Goa to explore some beautiful locales and it's food scenes in and around the capital city Panaji. It was an opportunity for us to discover the beauty of Goa just like the locals.
We started our food journey by visiting this humble breakfast point called Shailesh restaurant situated in the heritage and scenic city of Ribandar. With an old style ambience and menu, the visit to this place was like traveling back in time. Here we ordered three different kinds of paos, sweet buns and mix bhaji. The food was simple, wholesome, affordable and tasty. This was the meal that the locals eat daily..
Located on the banks of the river Mandovi, close to the estuary that’s formed by the unison of the Mandovi and Panjim, Ribander is full of beautiful natural sceneries and spots that are best explored on a bike.
We hopped into the bikes of Paul and Raul and went to see the salt pans situated across the riverfront of River Mandovi. These are the few ice cube tray shaped salt pans where salt is harvested manually.
From there we moved to Fontainhas which is basically a residential area in Old Panaji. It is famous for the Portuguese style houses with colorful facades. Today many of the residential houses and buildings have been converted to heritage hotels, art galleries and cafes. After traversing through the lanes and by lanes of this beautiful location we arrived at Confeitaria, a bakery known for the wood fire oven based Portuguese and Goan treats. Here we tried some pork and prawn rissoles, chicken roll, newri, rum ball, perad and tea.
Next destination was a local supermarket called Global to Local. Here we got familiar with the quintessential ingredients that go into the Goan cuisine.
Next we had some coconut water in Ribandar before heading to Divar island on a ferry. Here Raul took us to this place called Rock Inn and Bar that is renowned for its amazing homestyle Goan meals. It is run by couple Dilip and Daulati who prepare and serve the food on their own. We ordered bangda recheado, one of their best selling items, along with rice and prawn curry. The red coloured pan fried fish dish was a complete stunner.
After the hearty meal we took another ferry to reach the verdant St. Estevam island where Mack and Raul had arranged for a musical afternoon with their musician friends Pierre, Jennifer and Anslem. It was our maiden tryst with live Goan music and we were simply lost in the gleeful melodies.
All thanks to Raul and Mack from The Local Beat, Goa we had marvelous day enjoying the food , heritage and culture of this beautiful state.