Living up to its name as a tourist destination, Goa has varied international cuisine to offer. Right from Tibetan, Chinese, Mediterranean, European and Pan Asian cuisine, restaurants across the state offer authentic tastes with the natural ingredients.
Chef Ukesh Thapa who serves Nepali cuisine, says, “Goa is known for its vivid taste and culture. People like to explore different cuisines over here. And the best part is; once they find something good they make sure to have it very often. And that’s the reason our Nepali cuisine found the right audience in so little time. Apart from the regular Hakka noodles and momos, we bring to the table authentic Nepali cuisine which has its unique flavours and taste. All of our dishes have been received fairly well by the customers as it’s not only different but healthy too. If I’ve to tell you the healthiest dishes, it would be Thakali, a Nepalese thali consisting of dal, rice, vegetable, any meat, bitter gourd fry and a generous dollop of ghee and Thukpa, a noodle soup nutrient-rich one-pot meal.”
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Chef Christopher Fernandes offers North American cuisine and feels that cooking is all about people. No matter what culture one belongs to, food is the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. “Goa is finally accepting North American cuisine, its techniques and world flavours. I serve smoked maple espresso bacon, smoked 5 spice duck breast, beef tenderloin pastrami, fennel garlic pepper smoked ham and a tonne of monthly specialities that are all prepared only over wood fire. Cooking meats and veggies on an open fire on wood or charcoal gives an amazing flavour to the meats as the fat renders it drips on the open fire and produces smoke and kisses the meat back with flavours you can’t resist.”
Pan Asian cuisine is the most preferred food after one’s home-cooked regional cuisine. Indian pallets are very familiar with pan Asian flavours and that’s why there is a very high demand for this food style. Chef Padam Rawat says, “We’ve transitioned traditional local Goan pallets from being used to typical Indian Asian flavours to a modern pan-Asian version with Japanese influences and people absolutely love it. The response from the people has been phenomenal. I’d like to recommend our latest rice stick noodle bowl replete with healthy goodness as it consists of Flat rice stick noodles, edamame, raw mango, cucumber, avocado, carrot, bean sprouts and crunchy peanut with chilled burnt chilli soy broth.”
