TSitting on a table
made of sewing machine
parts, looking
onto the fields which have
just been baked with the first
rays of the sun, you hear the
first sounds of the sitar. You
are on your first juice, followed
by herbal tea and then
some mango lassi – each
a detox weapon of immense significance. At this little
bend on the road from the Mackey’s Saturday night
Market through Sun Village, is a little island of calm
literally in the middle of the fields – Baba Au Rahm.
As you wait for your Hercules burger stuffed with ham, bacon,
egg and pickles, you order a greek omelette anyway and figure
which arrives faster. Sunday breakfasts in parts of Arpora
and Anjuna are made of these. Away from the beaches, in the
middle of the fields and in your own pace and in your own time.
Funnily, breakfasts in Goa haven’t really received equal billing
with lunches and dinners and honestly this meal has been
woefully shortchanged in terms of acknowledgement and
salutations. Over the years, during several journeys which
have kept Business with Pleasure alive, the crack of dawn to
mid morning drives have always been splendid and breakfasts
have consisted of several pit stops before the all important
luncheon. But a course correction has been long overdue.
Before we begin, a customary salute to the flag bearers
of the breakfast movement- Café Bhonsle, Café Tato
and Café Real, in Panjim surely – is in order. Milind of
Café Bhonsle has spent his youth waking up at 5 or not
sleeping at all if he’s had a late night, to ensure that he
opens his iconic café before the first regular arrives. And
if he’s had a really late night and made the mistake of
sleeping, his phone starts buzzing with hungry folks, who
have Milind on speed dial, asking him to open up pronto.
But if you are out of Panjim and doing a rare morning drive
through Salcete, stop by at ‘Valankas’ at Betalbatim for
their home made choris pao. There was a time when driving
that stretch was a weekly occurrence. I used to stop
at Valankas, eat two CP’s (Choris Pao) and pack two and
then drive to the Cansaulim market and do the same routine
at the CP place at the junction, very close to Matanhy
Saldanha’s statue – eat two and pack two. And then at
home, for dinner, the two packed ones from Valankas and
Cansaulim used to come out with yours truly trying to
guess where each came from. Over time the texture and
the aroma of each were so distinct, that the little game was
stopped and the choris eaten without wasting any time.
In beloved Loutolim, or should I say in THE Beloved’s
Loutolim, Menino has been delighting self, friends and
family for half a decade at the very least with his piping
hot beef samosas. BWP has been honoured to mention
his works of art over the years and he needs to reappear
to make any column on breakfast complete.
While these institutions will always remain, Panjim has
seen a steady mushrooming of European style breakfast cafes,
which over time manage to get you very close to the
real deal, in the continent. Delicieux, close to my weekday
pad, is a French style bakery and confectionery owned by
Varun Sood and Lucie Masson of the Siolim House fame.
At least two weekday breakfasts are had right here, of
which one is a no holds barred full English with baked
beans, sausage, fried tomatoes and the regular works of bacon
and egg. Delicieux also arguably does one of the best
Eggs benedicts in town though their mustard leave a bit to
be desired and therefore makes it stop short of perfection.
While this is a very tiny place, Cremeux in the heart of
the Panjim shopping area is certainly not. This takes you
back to the days of the old french or italian cafes with a
long verandah, high ceilings, big tables and a lovely
bar. The bar with a great selection of wines is what elevates
this place above all others. Their pizzas stand
out and their baguettes and pastas are fresh. But it’s
the lovely laid back charm of what Panjim was and Europe
is that is the ral icing on their top of the line cakes.
So yes, take your pick- bhaji puri and piping chai at Café
Bhonsle or a full English at Cremeux, there’s plenty to be had.
