When his way to heart is through food, instead of planning a travel itinerary, you plan a detailed food itinerary. I charted out  a rough travel plan in such a way that we get to experience the best gastronomical delight in our three days.

Goa, being a treasure trove of spices, cocunut, fresh fish and prawns, you would find a perfect blend of these ingredients in Goan cuisine.

Ok! Let me get you straight to the palatable food we had relished.

Rava fried fish
Rava fried fish is a perfect accompaniment to the Goan fish curry. This spicy fish fry has a thin layer of rava(semolina) coating to make it crisp and crunchy. People say that no Goan meal is complete without this fish fry.

Restaurant – Mum’s Kitchen

Goan Prawn fry
As the rain drizzles outside, just embrace the cold savoring the spicy deep fried goan prawns. Spice level was just perfect and we loved eating it.

Restaurant – Starlight 

Fish Recheado
Recheado is nothing but kashmiri red chillies grounded along with vinegar and coriander to form a paste. This spicy tangy paste is stuffed in Mackreal or Pomfret fish and stir fried in a pan to give you a delicious fish recheado. Lip-smacking indeed!

Restaurant – Viva Panjim

Rava fried prawn
As I said earlier, no goan thali is complete without rava fried delicacies. Though this dish is crispy outside, when you bite it, you will feel the perfect blend of masala soothing your taste buds.

Restaurant – Viva Panjim, Mum’s Kitchen

Poi
Poi is usually used as a substitute to rice. You can either use goan curry or home made jam as an accompaniment.
Restaurant -Mum’s Kitchen

Fish Thali
If you want to try Fish Thali, I would highly recommend Starlight, Arpora. Their thali offers five different variety of curries ranging from fish to crab to clams(Yes you read it right! Clams!). Rava fried fish and a fusion dish of cabbage and small prawns are two more feathers to its crown.
Restaurant – Starlight

Goan Fish curry
In the Thali we had ordered, two varieties of Goan fish curries were there. And both were exceptionally good.

Restaurant – Starlight.

Chicken Xacutti
I had tried this dish in Aldona, Mapusa and Panjim. But the chicken xacuti I had in Cancio’s homestay, Aldona still wins my heart. All credits to Raquel’s cooking skill.

Restaurant – Viva Panjim & Cancio’s Homestay

Goan Prawn curry 
Like Kerala cuisine, the use of cocunut is more in Goan curries and this prawn curry is no different. Pair this curry with a fish recheado for a scrumptious combo.

Restaurant – Viva Panjim

Chicken Cafreal 
Grilled chicken served Portuguese style with ground paste of spicy green chillies, peppercorns, garlic and ginger. Though the look wasn’t appealing, the cafreal was tasting really delicious.

Restaurant – Starlight.

Squid Goan curry
As we had already tasted all the other curries, we wanted something new to end the Goan trip. So we ended up ordering Squid Goan curry in Mum’s kitchen. Squid was cooked in a cocunut based curry to give you a palatable gravy for rice as well as poi.

Restaurant – Mum’s Kitchen

Prawns Orly
I tasted a different version of Prawns Orly in Route 66 three years back. Beer battered Prawns! Prawns coated with beer batter are golden fried and served. Yummy treat!

Restaurant – Route 66

Goan dishes I want to try on my next trip

Tandoori crab
Grilled crab rubbed with local masala at Laxmi family restaurant, Morjim

Crab curries
Though we tasted one version of crab curry in Starlight, I am so tempted to try other versions of goan crab curries.

Bebinca
This traditional rich, layered cake made from coconut milk, sugar and egg yolks is definitely on my food bucket list.

Thali at Bhatti Village
You get to eat what they get to catch. Interesting isn’t it? The idea of no menu card and fresh food had made me want to visit this place.

Recommended restaurants
1) Viva Panjim, Fontainhas
Viva Panjim, located inside a heritage house in Fontainhas, offers an ethnic Goan food at a reasonable price.

2) Starlight, Arpora
Starlight is a famous restaurant among locals. Food was tasting good. Thali in starlight comes with five varieties of curries and a rava fried fish. But they need to improve the aesthetics of the restaurant.

3) Mums’s Kitchen, Panjim
Mum’s Kitchen, located in Panjim, is a fine dining restaurant that offers a splendid view of the garden outside from your table. Price was bit higher but food was all worth the price.

4) Route 66, Fontainhas
Fontainhas has got some best set of food joints and Route 66 is one of it. I remember taking steps to a small food joint three years back to come out with a satisfied tummy. Now the food joint had developed to a bigger restaurant.