Britto's Goa and Redemption of faith ......

Recently I wrote a review for a hotel in Goa, which kinda finally looked like a crib session in writing! But something reinforced my belief that somewhere out there, a God does look out for me!! :-)

Ta-Da ......! The Britto's Restaurant and Bar in Baga Beach was an eye opener.

Pics courtesy google images

 A little history first:

• I had a few waking hours in Goa - most of which was spent in meeting rooms
• Grumbling me had not stepped on a beach till 9.30 pm, and my local office shook their head sadly when I asked if I could go to a beach at 10 pm
• Had an intuitive feeling that the hotel guys would ruin my long time fantasy of Goa Seafood....
• Rebelled and told the office guys that they can either feed me proper dinner, or find me muttering obscenities the next day between training sessions
• Ofcourse, the office guys jumped down the building and put me and another colleague into a car for the restaurant with an urgency that was new to me :-)

Now, the review :-)

Location : Sigh! Right on the beach! My heart did a quick Dhinka - chika when I saw the thatched roof, the sand which served as the floor, and many many tables with candles lit for effect. At that very moment, I wanted to hug the little Manager of our Goa office, and tell her I was indebted to her for life!!

Pic courtesy google images

 

There was also this cute curios shop, and a tattoo artist. (After a couple of glasses of the superb house wine, I'd have had a rendezvous with this tattoo artist, had my friend not intervened sensibly)

The tattoo place - pics courtesy google images

Service : Colorful shirts, smiling staff, and a live band. That was the first impression. The restaurant was full (on a week night - but hey! this is Goa we are talking about) and the staff were scrambling about, trying to serve all tables as soon as they could. The live band was strumming out romantic numbers one after the other, and, for the first time in many years, I called up G to tell him I was missing him! (music has this effect on me)

But the thing that yanked my eyeballs out was the confidence with which the service staff handled all sorts of weird requests. Let me tell you mine:

I asked one of the servers if he would reserve our table (we had already placed our orders, and we - no I wanted to go to the beautiful beach on the full moon night) while we wandered around the curio shop a bit. Do remember that the restaurant was packed to its brim. I half expected the guy to shrug his shoulders and tell me to go find food elsewhere.

He was all smiles when he asked me 'Ma'am are you going to the beach?'

Like a child caught lying, I sheepishly nodded my head. He said, "No problem Ma'am."

And with a little whoop, my colleague and I grabbed our purses and stood up. At this, the guy said something I will remember for years to come. "You can leave your bags here. No worries."

Both of us had disbelief writ all over our faces. I asked him if it was really safe - it was, after all, filled with visitors and staff alike. And he said with the confidence of a proud team member "Absolutely safe. You can leave anything here and you'll find it where hen you come back." It would have been an insult to the guy if we still carried our bags, so we left it behind.... with a little trepidation. We needn't have worried, though - everything was intact when we returned a good hour later.

Food (and wine ofcourse):  I am a huge fan of Goan food, and have spent many evenings driving distances in Delhi trying to find that elusive Sorpotel. So ofcourse, the food was good. I knew it would be good. But I had no idea that everything we ordered would be lip smacking good. We had a pork Vindaloo (how can you miss a Vindaloo in Goa?) and a Prawn sorpotel. Awesome - with light fluffy rice, and a local bread called Sanaa. Ofcourse, we had the Pao too, to dab up the gravy.

Portions sizes are reasonably large, and we were stuffed by the time we finished all that we had ordered. Dessert was a luxury that we took only because the menu was so tantalizing. The server smiled and told us to order only one dessert with two spoons - and he was right!!! We ordered a fruit salad with Ice Cream, and it was heavenly! Between the two of us, we couldn't finish it.

We also had the house port wine, which is the only thing I drink when I am here. I like my wine sweet, fortified and full bodied. Lived up to my expectation here too. Again here, a word for the server. He ensured the food arrived on time, the wine glasses were refilled promptly and when we discovered in horror that we were terribly late, the bill reached us in matter of seconds. Impressive!

 Cost : A complete meal for two with around 4 glasses of port wine cost us Rs.1300.

The Verdict : The next day was a total disaster, which I have already blogged about, and this little restaurant was the only thing that made me smile when I think of this visit to Goa. 

Amici Khan Market

My visits to Khan Market always sees me having a new adventure in food! And this time was no different. A colleague of mine insisted I was missing something if  I did not go with her to this 'cute' place for lunch. As if I needed much prodding for an Italian lunch....

Now, this colleague knows about my passion for food, and given her loyalties with Amici, she began on a defensive mode. She was of the opinion that anyone who likes creamy, saucy, cheesy Italian stuff will not like the 'authentic' stuff they served at Amici's. Well, I certainly like the sinful variety of pastas and pizzas, but was looking forward to the other renditions as well.

The ambiance first - as is with almost all outlets in Khan Market, one doesn't get to know the size or decor from the outside. In fact, I most certainly would have missed the entrance - it was from one of the back lanes, and the only proof of existence of the cafe was a narrow door with a guard standing outside. One had to climb a set of stairs to reach the outlet, It is spread over two floors; the first floor has traditional cafe style seating, with the patisserie and drinks section glaring at you when you step in. Good strategy!

                                 

But the exciting bit was the second floor. There is this glass enclosed baking section, which looks straight out of a fairytale - the white walls, the red brick kiln, and the long bakers' peel and white dusting flour all over the white counter. Also interesting in the second floor is the outdoor seating space. Of course, the outdoor space is comfortable only during mild winters.

The service left us with mixed feelings. The manager - a young gentleman by the name of Xavier, was pleasant and efficient. I don't know if it is a common factor, or if we were just plain unlucky with our server. The gentleman who served us was a tad strange when we asked him for his suggestions. His repetitive answer was "Everything is good here." When we asked him again if the pizzas were more popular or the pastas, I swear I saw the 'which-planet-are-you-from' look. But he stuck to his ground and said "Both sell well HERE."

Finally, we settled on a vegetarian Lebanese pizza, which seemed to have interesting ingredients. Aubergines, feta cheese in addition to the usual pizza ingredients. We also wanted a pasta dish with pesto sauce. (I now seem to have a thing for pesto thanks to a hotelier friend who is obsessed with pesto sauce!!) Interesting dude server asks "Penne, spaghetti, macaroni?" And though we knew the answer we would get, we asked him his suggestion anyway. He did not let us down... "They are all good." So we decided on spaghetti with pesto sauce.

The food : well, we were famished at the end of the server escapade. And we were told that pizzas take a little longer to arrive. But we were pleasantly surprised. The drinks came almost instantly, and the pizza and pasta were on our table before any significant wait. The pizza was exactly what one would expect of an Italian cafe to churn out - thin crust, coarse tomato sauce (not the ketchup version) and very little cheese. The topping, in our case was mashed aubergines, and feta cheese. The pizza had come together pretty well. The pasta was exceptional - in texture and taste. If you order cheese garlic bread, don't expect the pizza hut variety here. What you get is a split baguette with a generous cheesy layer.

A special mention here for the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. We were tempted to order one, and between the three of us, we polished it off. The chocolate sauce was not too sweet, and the brownie was soft in the center, crunchy at the top - ideal!

When the food arrived, we were a little disappointed with the portion size. (Given that places like Big Chills kills you with the portion sizes!). But once we started eating, we discovered the portion sized were just right. You had eaten enough to fill you up, but were not writhing in agony after over eating - absolutely perfect for business lunches.

A meal for three cost us around Rs.2000 without beverages. Definitely recommended for people who prefer the healthier version of their Italian favorites, and for people who cannot afford to doze off in the middle of a post lunch meeting.

Big Chills

Firstly, I have to thank Ritu for taking me out for lunch - thank you buddy! You have compelled me to write about the restaurant we went to. And so here is my first review on a food place!

Its called the Big Chills in a lovely little market called Kailash Colony Market. Very different from the GK market. Climb up a flight of (steep!?) steps to reach an amazingly quaint little place that looks right out of a postcard. We were directed to the best spot in the restaurant (which, I suspect is because my friend is a regular who knew more about the menu than the steward himself!). Our table was near a window and a nice view of the market.

First, the ambiance : The place, like already mentioned, is quaint. It has an old world trattoria kind of charm, with green wrought iron lamp posts, and little tables and chairs. (I wouldn't say the chairs were the most comfortable ones, but that fact slips into oblivion when the food arrives!!). The restaurant also had a healthy amount of noise inside. The kind that one would associate with happy get-togethers among young groups. People chatting, laughing and ofcourse, eating! The checkered table linen added to the trattoria feel.

The food : I have to warn you - you better be very, very hungry......... or be prepared to shamelessly pack up more than half the meal to carry back with you. Because the portions are HUGE... and you will not want to leave behind anything. We did exactly that - we asked for the servers to pack whatever we couldn't polish off. And for a person with very clear restaurant etiquette, an act like that speaks volumes on the quality of the food.

I had ordered a fuselli with a tangy tomato sauce and inspite of the repeated warnings my friend gave herself, she went ahead and ordered a creamy pasta for herself. We were hungry, and we were getting hungrier by the minute. (Maybe the smells from the kitchen had something to do with it). The food arrived, and we were short of drooling into the table linen.

The pasta had a nice, homely look. A big bowl almost to the brim with steaming pasta, generously sauced, and a no nonsense approach to the garnishing. Least hindrance to gobbling of the food, I say! Well we dug in, and the feeling can only be described as bliss! Did I care that the plate presentation was a tad untidy? Honestly, No!

We couldn't finish our pastas. But we were getting greedy, and blueberry cheesecake was what took our fancy. And I am glad it did! Crumbly base, lovely texture of the cheesecake, which did an amazing duet with the blueberry layer on top. I really couldn't stop closing my eyes while eating it.

The service : Quick boys, with an expression that cannot be identified. They were all over the place, rushing in and out, and the worst thing I can think about the service is that it gets difficult to identify your server - they all look alike! The niceties are there. You get escorted to your table, you are asked for your order pretty soon, you are even suggested dishes if you ask them. They obviously don't believe in the frills of classic restaurant service. But again, negligible factor when you start warming up to the place.

My take on the place? An ideal place for an afternoon out with an old friend. A fantastic place when you are hungry enough to eat big. Most of all, a nice place to feel young again. Average price for a meal for two very hungry people is around Rs.1500.