The Best New Restaurants In Goa

While F&B industry estimates say that one in every four restaurants in metros will not survive the pandemic, Goa seems less affected. In fact, a new breed of restaurateurs (and several old hands too) have launched a slew of exciting eateries, from bakeries selling pastéis de nata to joints serving Persian pilafs, kuzhipaniyaram and smoky grilled meats. Which means you’ve got more choices than ever before. Arun Janardhan tells you where to eat—and drink—when you r̓e in Goa next

- Arun Janardhan

Malavika Manay had just made her way to Goa from Bengaluru when the whole country went into a lockdown in March last year. Like many tourists, she had aspired to live here at some point. She was initially supposed to move to Maldives on work—to explore island life and teach yoga at a luxury hotel—but her parents insisted she “figure her shit out” before going anywhere.

Part of the figuring involved going back to one of her key interests: food. Last August, she started Earth Mama Smoothies—an extension of a popup she’d launched in Bengaluru—from her Siolim home in north Goa.

She’s now setting up a café in Anjuna, which will serve her smoothies as well as some savouries. To prepare for this, she bought business books and studied how to live an entrepreneur’s life—an arguably more challenging prospect than blending almond milk and acai berry powder with fruits, granola, and almond butter drizzle.

In a year and a half of economic mayhem and mess in the hospitality sector, Manay’s story of new beginnings may seem like an exception, but it’s not. Considering the tourist hotspot of north Goa opened up earlier than most metros last year, and restaurants were allowed to function for longer periods, the damage to the hospitality biz here was muted compared to other parts of the country.

While some of the state’s best-known establishments, like Lila Café in Anjuna and Villa Blanche in Assagao, shut down, a host of new properties have sprouted across the region.