One of the most serious hunting trips for those who search out food in a manner an art lover chases a painting, is the hunt for the perfect steak. While this is a formidable journey anywhere in the world, the jury is still out on the best steak houses or the steak serving houses of Goa. While this isn’t the subject of this column, it is – as BWP has done recently – good to do a heads up of a serious pre-Christmas hunt to announce who will satiate the senses of the steak lover in Goa in the 2015- 2016 season. Horizon in Candolim and Martins in Margao were easily the front runners of the 2014-15 season (at the risk of making ten new foes instantly). But what does a steak do to us that no other meat does. The Independent of UK describes this perfectly, “Steak is king. Steak is what other meat wishes it could be. When a person thinks of meat, the picture that forms in his or her mind is a steak. It can be cooked, crosshatched from the grill and lying in its own juice in a pose suggestive of unmatched succulence, or it can be raw, blood-coloured and framed by white fat, the steak that sleeping bulldogs in vintage cartoons dream of. When crushed between an upper and a lower molar, steak delivers flavour, tenderness and juiciness in a combination equalled by no other meat. The note struck is deep and resonant. Steak is powerful. Steak is reassuring. Steak is satisfying in a way that only the pleasures of the flesh can be” Let this rest right here. As they say “to be continued soon”. Moving on, with friends and friendly cousins, a part of the merry brigade which descends, bringing much joy and merriment this time of the year, much of the week and a more was spent going to the tried and tested places where you do not need reviews or directions or even the menu. Joets at Bogmalo, keeps getting better each year. With one of the best locales on any beach in Goa and an ambience in the bar and upper seating area to match, Joets is so English and so Goan. The trick here is not to let your food choices be proportional to the setting. When at Joets’s go fully Indian with keema egg curry, prawn Kolhapuri and mutton jalfrezi with gallons of cocktails. And if butter chicken is your pick, then Joets can be your punjabi dhaba with the butter chicken gravy steeped in curd and butter, marinated to perfection. Down by the coast in Majorda, on the coastal road is the old faithful Pentagon. For long Pentagon has kept it really simple, a garden type-setting, an extensive menu spread and good live music. While Pentagon will surely be a part of yours truly’s steak project, a grand meal last week- a non steak onewent on for a good two hours till sleep and sanity took over. Pentagon to most is about the freshness of its sea food, but for carnivores looking for that little extra, look no further than the spicy beef chilly done in the oriental/Chinese style. Two plates and counting and it wasn’t just enough. The bottle of red wine helped though. However, there are some that are just home and always will be. If memories of my beloved Panjim can be trapped in a lane which sums up the Goan experience in one square kilometer, it has to be Sao Tome and Fontainhas. And up the steps and floor laden with sea shells and into the romantic cavernous space that Venite is, sits Luis, one of Goa’s most passionate foot soldiers. Luis defies age even as we succumb to it. The omnipresent effervescence in his manner of speech and deportment turns into a scowl only when he speaks of any justice to his mother land. And oh yes, he still does excellent food. Sometimes it takes your guests to remind you of how well the cafreal, the stuffed crabs and his pork chops are. But Luis and Venite, in a very simple, way have become a part of this truly wonderful, and now remaining lifelong Goa journey. They represent a part of Goa which is still non judgmental and embraces you as a fellow lover of their land and a fellow fighter. I thank them deeply.
