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. 

Ronil Beach Resort Goa - A review

The organization I work with has presence in over 150 locations in the country, which means there are often sudden SOS travel plans that are required to be done. The presence of an uber-efficient admin department ensures that the tickets miraculously get booked, accommodation and cabs are waiting to receive you, and much of the heartburn associated with official travel is taken care of.

One such split second travel plan was made to Goa. (consider my plight - I reach Goa after a murderous 3 hour flight from Delhi, rush in and out of meetings, and virtually drag myself into bed - only to rush out of Goa the next day - its GOA we're talking about people - and I didn't even seen the damn beaches!!).

Anyway, the closest hotel to the unit I was supposed to visit was a place misleadingly called 'Ronil Beach Resort' - I say misleading, because the beach is nowhere to be seen, and it was hardly a 'resort'. As I have said many times over, the product is important; but much more important is what you do with the product - the service.

In my usual style - the review, ladies and gents:

• Location : Ummm....er.... this is Goa we're talking about. Throw a pebble into the air and it will land on a hotel or a home stay. So I would much rather go to a place that has a beach within walking distance. And a place that has access to many other food joints - especially seafood! This resort is located a little away from the beach, and is also a tad difficult to locate if your driver is not a local guy. Also, if you do not have a car, going to any other food joint is impossible, and you are pretty much at the mercy of the hotel chefs (more on that later).

• Rooms : Well, lets just say that the first room that was given to me, I was aghast, and after a few screaming friendly threats, I was shown another room, in a similarly sad state, but cleaner. The place looked like the owner was just milking the resort without actually investing anything back. Once upon a time the resort would have been a pretty place, with rooms and balconies that overlooked the pool. But today, it needs renovation, and prayers.

• Service : After 11 pm and before 7.30 am, don't expect your phone calls to the reception to be picked up. And God forbid if you need an early breakfast - in the words of the service staff, "The breakfast starts at 7.30 am. And 7.30 means 7.30." (complete with crossed arms and grumpy face). A sucker for trouble, I decide to see if "7.30 means 7.30..." And guess what - 7.45 am and the chef walks in whistling a tune, hands in his pocket, unaware of the smoke coming out of my ears. I grabbed a knife and stabbed him on his paunch spread some marmalde on a slice of bread (I had a long day ahead, you know! And one shouldn't take out anger on the food....) and then stomped out of the restaurant, and checked out immediately! At the reception, I thought I'd pour my woes out to the grandfatherly Front Office Executive, and he simply said, "Whatever you want to say, you can write in this remarks book." Yeah right! As if the report would reach the right person! In fact, as if the 'right person' cared!!

• Facilities : The pool was clean. The washroom was clean. (in need for maintenance, but clean). Don't expect fluffy towels and feather soft beds - these are worn out too. Clean, yes. No toiletries to boast of. Luckily I carry my own.... the ones kept in the washroom were not in any sense of the word, appealing.

Verdict : For a rack rate of over Rs. 3500 for a standard room, which can go up to Rs 7000 in season time (October to Feb), this is a place I'd not be venturing into if someone held a gun to my head!