We recently came back from a week long stay in Goa, India. This getaway followed a hectic week of a family wedding, shopping and general mayhem of Mumbai, so we were keen for some down time by the beach. We had spent the whole time in Mumbai as vegetarians, so sampling the seafood on offer in Goa was definitely on the agenda.
I need to note here that both of us fell ill to “Delhi Belly” during our Indian holiday, so our overall impression of the cuisine may not be fair judgement. Then again, it may be the most accurate glimpse of what to expect as a Western visitor to India…
Our first fish curry was in Panjim (Panaji), a city in central Goa. There’s no photo because we were unimpressed. The fish I believe was Pomfret, and it tasted muddy, like the taste you would expect of the brown waters surrounding the city. We didn’t give up though, and tried a different venue and different fish. Can’t recall the fish variety, as though it was an improvement on the Pomfret, it was unmemorable. The red dish on the left is chicken by the way (also very mediocre). So perhaps Goan seafood was not all it was cracked up to be…or so we thought.
Next stop was Palolem Beach, to the far south of Goa. I must emphasize how gorgeous our accomodation was. If you go to Goa, please try to stay at Ciaran’s Camp. It is just beautiful, with lovely staff and is a true paradise among the scattered beach huts along the Goan coast. By the time we had made it to Palolem, we had both been sick and were starting to get extremely homesick, and well, just totally over it. It was with great courage that we persisted on eating seafood.
At Ciaran’s Camp there is a restaurant on the beachfront. Here I ordered prawns, barbecued on the outdoor grill. They were delicious. Huge prawns, generous with meat but tender, and juicy. Next night I tried Coconut fish. I’d never had this before, but it is a white flesh fish popular with the locals. Again, I had it barbecued, and ate the whole thing by myself because it tasted so good. Very fresh and mild in taste, and a breeze to eat because its big bones are easy to pick out. I felt like a heffa, but it was all good, and I was satisfied.
