Friday Finds ☆ Restaurant Recommendations For Goa ☆ Venite, Mum’s Kitchen & Calamari Beach Shack

During our trip in Goa, we spent most of our time at our hotel, Cidade de Goa. It was fun and fine as our youngest needed to take a nap in the afternoon and that worked for us. However, we made a point to go out in town for dinner on three nights for a change of scenery and experience a bit of Goa.

My husband’s colleague who was from Goa gave him her fabulous recommendations which were a tremendous help! I listed her recommendations on the bottom of this post, so please take a look!

Here in my post I would like to show where we have eaten in the Panaji (aka Panjim) area, the capital of Goa prefecture. All three places were relatively close to Cidade de Goa (except for Calamari, which was about 30+ minute drive), which was great. All three places we went were fantastic and I recommend them all! We would have been lost without my husband’s colleague’s help. Thank you, Mel! With additional help from Tripadvisor, we picked three restaurants.

Here you go!

 

Hotel Venite Restaurant

 

If you would like to experience what is Goa about from a certain angle, I believe this restaurant kind of sums it up for you: eclectic, vintage, quirky, unique, a bit of colonial twist, etc. Goa is known for its club scene which reminds me of Bali in Indonesia. We are not in that scene for grown-ups any more (with three kids? No), so it was kind of cool to be able to experience a bit of the hip environment through this restaurant. The food? The food was great! It was delicious. I recommend Venite for the whole Goa experience.

Hotel Venite Restaurant
31st January Rd, Panjim, Goa, India
HOURS: Mon – Sat: 9:00 am – 10:30 pm
Cash Only
TEL: 0832-2425537 / 9850467008
FACEBOOK

 

Mum’s Kitchen

 

When in Goa, you’ve got to experience Goan food. Right? So, here is a recommendation for the traditional Goan food. The prawns my husband ordered was so fresh and delicious. The Goan sausage curry was very spicy, but great! It was a very family friendly restaurant.

Mum’s Kitchen
854, Martins Building, D.B. Street
Panjim-Miramar Road, Goa 403 001
EMAIL: mumskitchengoa@gmail.com

Mrs. Suzette Martin’s
+91 9011095557
mumskitchengoa@gmail.com

Mr. Rony Martins
+91 9822175556
mumskitchengoa@rediffmail.com

 

Calamari Beach Shack

 

On our last night in Goa, we went to Calamari Beach Shack. Since we were in Goa, on the southeast coast of India facing the Arabian Ocean, we thought that it would be nice to see the sun setting down in the Arabian Ocean. We had great fun and the food and ambiance were just what we needed! It was nice for kids to be able to play at the beach for a bit before it got dark. The water was quite rough and I was again glad that I picked Cidade de Goa as the water there was much calmer and felt safer with our kids.

Do you remember the first time you walked on the sand?

Was it like this?

I feel like he’s saying “Mom, why are you looking at me like that?”

My husband and I don’t have many couple pictures. I’m usually the one behind the lens, so inevitably we would not be in photos together, but also I think that in general many men do not have a desire to be in photos. Anyways, my husband said on this evening “Let’s take photos together. Why don’t we ask our girls to take our photos?” He probably has no idea how happy I was to be asked to be in photos with him!

I actually do not feel good about how I look in this photo above, but you know what? This is how I look, then I have to accept it. I love that my kids are in the photo with me.

Calamari Beach Shack
Dando Beach | Candolim, Candolim, Bardez, India
Landmark: Opposite of Santana Beach Resort
PHONE: (+91) 832 3290506 | (+91) 9326102242

 

☆ RECOMMENDATIONS IN GOA by a GOAN ☆

I’d like to share with you an awesome recommendation made by my husband’s colleague who is from Goa. The best kind of recommendations is those made by the people who know the area really well and what we would be interested in! Isn’t this awesome?

Places to visit:
1) Palolem Beach in South Goa (known for the beautiful sunset view)

2) Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa – relics of St. Francis Xavier in a tomb, inside the Basilica, which is believed to be more than 400 years old.

3) Se Cathedral, Old Goa – its opposite Basilica of Bom Jesus

4) Dudhsagar Falls (drive 60-70 kms from Panjim)

5) Anjuna Flea market

Restaurants

1) Souza lobo Calangute beach (North Goa)

2) St. Anthony’s Baga Beach (North Goa)

3) Britto’s Baga Beach (North Goa)

4) Tito’s Baga beach (North Goa) (not for kids)

5) Mum’s Kitchen Miramar Beach (North Goa, close to Panjim, near Times of India Building)

6) Venite’s Panjim (North Goa – on the way to Miramar Beach)

7) Quarterdeck Panjim (on the way to Miramar Beach)

8) Viva Panjim Panjim (Tel: 0832-2422405 – House No. 178, 31st January Road, Fontainhas, Behind Mary Immaculate High

School, Panjim, North Goa)
9) George’s Panjim (North Goa – at the foot of Panjim church)

10) Martin’s Corner Betalbatim (South Goa — near Hotel Alila Diva; 5-7 minutes’ drive from Park Hyatt resort in South Goa)

11) Curly’s Beach Shack – Anjuna (North Goa)

12) Calamari Beach Shack – Candolim (North Goa)

13) Wok n Roll Oriental food (North Goa) south-east cuisine – near Aguada Anchorage, Sinquirim, Candolim)

14) L’Orange Barbaque and Goan food (North Goa – Near Magnum resort, Candolim)

Must eat Goan dishes

1) Baangda (Mackarel) or Pomfret Reachado (Fish fry – stuffed with the goan reachado masala)

2) Chicken/Prawn/mutton Xacuti (gravy dish)

3) Rawa (semolina) fried squids (calamari), prawns, mussels (dry starter)

4) Goan fish curry with Goan rice (goan rice called Ukkada)

5) Vindaloo (Pork or Chicken or Fish) – gravy

6) Goan pork sausages chilly fry (spicy dry dish – no chillies though, just the goan sausages, with mainly tomatoes and onions)

7) Chicken Cafreal (gravy)

8) Pork Sorpotel (gravy dish)

9) Ambot Tik curry (mostly Shark fish or any other fish – its sour-spicy gravy dish)

10) Prawn or fish balchao

11) Bombil fry (Bombay duck fish fried in semolina – dry dish – not spicy)

12) Beef chilly fry (dry dish – no chillies though, just the goan sausages, with mainly tomatoes and onions)

Sweets

1) Doss
2) Dodhol
3) Pinnaq
4) Bebinca