The indomitable Goans of Pousada by the Beach.

The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely… one small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders.”

The opening line from the Asterix comic series came to mind when I visited Pousada By The Beach earlier this month. This is a family-run Goan restaurant on Calangute Beach. We went there the first time thanks to the recommendation of our friend Monty. Chances are that you would go there based on word of mouth. It is not a restaurant that features in restaurant awards or glam mag lists.

A gentleman named Neville Prouca started it in 2009. His sons Josh and Zoran joined him over time. Pousada by The Beach is all about excellent quality, homestyle Goan Catholic food. It is set on the beach and you can see the sea…and hear it too. There were two labs named Chai and Biscuit when we first went there. I fell in love with them. As I did with the food, the warm hospitality and the sense of freedom that it exuded.

What does this have to do with Asterix?

K and I were regulars in the early 2000s in the Goa Baga area. It was a favourite with overseas tourists who took long breaks in the winter and came to Goa: and with young to middled aged folks from Mumbai who belonged to agencies (advertising, market research) and other creative fields, corporates, etc. Folks who were looking for a very quick and reasonably affordable break from the daily grind. Cheap booze was a big draw, followed by the food.

Goa’s popularity exploded with the movie Dil Chahta Hain. Suddenly, people from across the country, especially northern India, wanted to enjoy the promise of Goa and headed there in truckloads. Baga was a favoured destination.  The influx of tourists from Delhi brought in changes. Baga became crowded. An ecosystem came up to serve the new tourists who brought in cash inflow. A significant change came in terms of food. Baga earlier was about beachside shacks and small restaurants that dotted the Baga Calangute stretch. Seafood was a big draw. And expensive. Pork and beef were more readily available than in Mumbai. The menu was a mix of faux ‘continental’, Goan Catholic, which locals would say was touristy, and chicken tikka masala and cheese naan for the westerners.

The last time we went to Baga Calangute was in 2018. We were dismayed to see the change that had happened. Baga was a lot more crowded. The lazy vibe was gone; it was all about testosterone now. The old restaurants were replaced by those serving vegetarian food. It was more Sarojini Nagar than Sousegad country.

It was the end of our love affair with Baga.. We did not go back for another seven years. We returned to Baga to attend a birthday party. The first thing that struck me was that the restaurant scene had become entirely about Indian restaurants. The definition of ‘Indian’ included Punjabi, South Indian, and Gujarati—not Goan!

The Northerners had taken over Baga. Just as the Romans had taken over Gaul. What about Pousada? How was it faring?

I went to Pousada for lunch the day after we landed.  I am happy to report that things are the same at Pousada By the Beach. They had stuck to their focus on homestyle Goan food. Holding out against the invasion of ‘Indian’ vegetarian places, just as Asterix and his friends had against the Romans. They feared nothing but the sky falling on their heads.

Few things had changed, to be honest. As Neville pointed out, his hair was black the first time we met (grey now) and I had hair. I was sad to hear that Biscuit had passed away. She was buried on the premises before the shrine, with a flower bed marking the spot. Chai, who was 2 years old when we met, is now a grand dame of 9. There’s a Junior Biscuit. She is as friendly as her namesake was. And Zeus, whom I did not get to meet. And, the one who stole my heart was a two-month-old pup called Peanut. They are all labs, rescues. Peanut is a gift, but possibly a rescue.

Josh looks after the drinks. He made me a fabulous strawberry daiquiri mocktail. I don’t drink alcohol, but for those who do, there are options to choose the brand that you want your cocktail to be made with. I had a beef chilli, which featured juicy meat rendered slightly sweet. It was not overtly spicy or tangy. It comes in 3 options, low, medium and heavy spice. My spice tolerance levels are low. Mopping up the bombastic beef chilli with fresh poi in what has become veg unlimited thali land restored my faith in the goods of food.

Josh is rocking the bar and has something for us teetotallers tooI had a feijoada. It is a Portuguese pickled pork and bean dish, which acquired more spices as it journeyed from Portugal to Brazil and Goa. The addition of chorizo in Goa amps up the tartness. This is why I preferred the butter garlic poi that Josh brought me to the plain rice that it came with. It helped cut the sourness. I had a serradura to cool off at the end of the meal. A dessert I had enjoyed the last time I came here. It’s a simple dish with fresh cream, crushed Marie biscuits and cashews. Simple, and yet no one gets it as right as they do at Pousada.

“Now don’t wait another seven years before your next visit,” said Neville as I was about to leave.

He need not have worried. I returned for lunch the next day, this time with fellow guests from the birthday party we had come to. They were Mumbai ad agency folks (including two spouses, me, and a thirteen-year-old). This group was representative of the ‘old Baga crowd.’

We went for the beef chilli, which was spicier than it was the previous day. It was such a hit that folks asked for repeats. We had squids tossed in peri peri masala.  The red chilli-based masala was spicy, and the squids were incredibly fresh and well-cooked.

For mains, we had a hearty sorpotel and sausage pulao. The latter was so delicious that we fought over it and ordered extra. The serradura that followed was the perfect cooling salve after their gobsmacking fare. Neville brought alla belle, the local coconut crepe, on the house. He had jazzed it up with ice cream and jaggery, overshadowing the more demure serradura with its bold flavours.

There was a vegetarian in the group. He did not feel left out. He had crisp okra, a fresh vegetable xacuti, and the two desserts. I was proud to see that everyone loved the experience and the food.

The north might have taken over Baga, but the merry folks of Pousada By The Beach were not giving in by Toutatis.