Come February and K and I have headed like homing pigeons to Goa for years to celebrate my birthday. A tradition that started in the early years of our marriage.
In the initial years we would go to Baga in the north.
Birthday breakfast would be English sausages and toast with watermelon juice in the beach at Love Shack, tongue roast for lunch at Infantaria and prawn chilli fry for dinner at Brittos, to be followed in later years by the classic Goan Portuguese fare of Casa Goa. The duck and clam stew is one of the many unforgettable dishes that we had there.
We returned to Goa on my birthdat after a bit of a break a few years back. The north had changed with the northerners (from Delhi) taking over and suddenly butter chicken & veg thali places ruled over what was once food paradise for us. Infanteria held on gamely, Britto’s disappointed and we discovered Pousada by the Beach through friends & fell in love with its classic Catholic Goan home styled fare. It is a pity that we have not returned to the north since but many friends have gone to Pousada since based on our recommendation and have all fallen in love with it.
My next birthday trip to Goa was to the extreme south a couple of years and we went to Martin’s Corner, as recommended by readers, to have a glorious birthday lunch of calamari fry and prawn amsol & Goan sausage pulao. A break from the soul-less food of the Lalit Hotel, where we were staying. We went back to a Goa a few months later and checked into the new ITC Grand Goa (we have stayed there in its Hyatt days too). Chef Sarita did some mind-blowing Goan meals for us there and we did go to Martin’s once and another interesting place called Nostalgia. This was not a birthday trip
We went back to Goa on my birthday this year. Desperately seeking a break from the pandemic life we found ourselves in and the Taj Exotica in the south with its sea view rooms was just what we needed. We went Martin’s Corner for lunch again on my birthday and repeated our menu of yore.
For dinner we went to Cavatina (near the Taj Exotica). It was recommended by everyone including the hotel staff.
We met owners, chef Avinash Martins there and his wife Tiz, there. had his Goan chef tasting menu. Had an epiphany at the end.
Cavatina is 7 years old but it’s in the last couple of years that the talented young chef behind it, Avinash Martins, began working Goan flavours and local produce in his kitchen and since then the menu has sung like a Fado. His passion for telling the story of his native Goa shone through in each dish that we tried. The pandemic further forced him to explore what was available around him and the menu has just grown in excellence since then. You should not miss this if in Goa and do go for the chef’s tasting menu.
The video might tell you why.
The following is a collection of pictures from my birthday and this can now serve as the ‘birthday 2021 post!’
