South India: Goa: Candlelight Restaurant

Candlelight Restaurant
Siolim, Goa

The area around Siolim is very working class, and the main street boasts a couple of thali places. At night, though, it is deserted. Antoinette from Siolim House recommended that we go to Candlelight for dinner, as it was the only place close by. Candlelight was about a ten-minute uphill walk from the hotel. For some reason, the street lights were not lit the first time we ventured forth... it was pitch-black and scary. We had the tiniest, smallest flashlight with us, so it was not much help.

The creepiest thing was that the countryside was dotted with tiny, whitewashed shrines that kinda glowed in the darkness. (Little shrines are a Goan thing--- they can be Hindu, Christian, or any religion.) They looked like tombstones on the side of the road, complete with garlands of wilted flowers. Once in a while, stray dogs would bark at us. They were not friendly barks. We realized that we were veritable sissies in this scary excursion. We were not sure if we should turn back.

We gave ourselves fifteen minutes before giving up and going to bed hungry. We were glad for being such troopers, because Candlelight was a gem.

Candlelight is a tiny mom-and-pop place, no bigger than a shed, that was a popular watering hole among long-time expats and some of the locals. It was run by this cute Goan couple, Sevrine and Anthony DeSouza. The food was good, and dirt cheap to boot. There was some outdoor seating, but the mosquitoes were quite ferocious. Indoors, at least there were some fans to blunt the humidity.

The resident fur at Candlelight.

Garlic fried peanuts.

Kingfisher beer. This is the popular beer in India. It is refreshing, but a bit on the harsh side. It is best served very cold, as Candlelight Restaurant did.

Alex from Siolim House joked that we should give our food orders first, because the kitchen was really slow. In truth, we did not mind. It was just interesting listening to the local banter. Two expats talked about having to go to Nepal to get their visas. We fell into a conversation with another expat, who just kept going on and on. Another regular, a thirty-something Indian guy, would just quietly drink his beer. Once in a while, a group of young Indian men would have a drink, and go off, maybe clubbing. Yea, no other women customers here too.

The menu at Candlelight is quite abbreviated. You can get fried prawns. Or beef/pork/chicken chili fry. Or curry fish with rice. Sometimes, they have sardines. That's it. Between our two visits, we sampled everything.

Fried prawns. They tasted quite fresh, and not like they were shipped half the world away before arriving to our plate.

Beef chili fry. DJKung liked the spice. After going almost full-on vegetarian in Kerala, he was ready for some real meat. Another night, he had the chicken chili fry. Likewise awesome.

Fish curry and grilled sardine. The sardine was available on one night. It was sweet and briny. The curry in Goa is not as rich as in Kerala, and the spice mix was different too. Went well with rice.

True to its name, Candlelight lost power twice in one night. Anthony and Sevrine came bustling out of the kitchen and lit some candles.

We really liked the homey atmosphere and local vibe of this joint. It was just great hanging out with our beers and stuffing ourselves. On our way back to Siolim, the street lights were lit. The doggies would still bark, but they no longer felt so menacing. They must be used to tourists stumbling back to Siolim.