South India: Goa: Danny's Restaurant

Danny's Restaurant
Arambol, Goa



Arambol is the hippie beach of North Goa. All of the tourists we've come across prior to making here had raved about how awesome this beach is, so we were prepared to hate it.

Yet it ain't that bad... the beach was a long strip of white sand and pretty strong surf. Not too many people, which was surprising. There were a number of beach huts and restaurants facing the water, but it was really... dead. Goa, like other parts of India, appeared to have been hard hit by the events of 26/11.



So we walked a bit for a few minutes under the blazing sun. We picked a random place among the many beachfront restaurants. Danny's had your typical tourist menu of spaghetti, salads and burgers. DJKung was happy with just a cold drink and a snack, but I was feeling ravenous.

Lime soda. This is freshly mixed lime juice, sugar, salt and cold seltzer water. It became DJKung's drink of choice for the rest of the trip.

The prices for the drinks were very reasonable. I got a mango lassi (mango and yogurt drink) and DJKung ordered freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Yea... we''re on vacation and we're doin' it up! (That, and the Kingfisher beer that we had one night gave me quite the hangover.)

Thinking back to DJKung's chicken fried rice at SAS Restaurant, I ordered the prawn fried rice. It was prepared Hong Kong style, and was very satisfying.

DJKung got the fried papadum, which had a spicy veggie sauce on it (tomato?).

Considering that Danny's solely catered to tourists, we were pretty impressed by the food. After finishing the fried rice and fried papadum, we were ready for round two.

French fries. Nothing beats french fries at the beach. The catsup had a fruity flavor to it.






Shrimp tempura with fried rice. Don't it look cute! DJKung finished every bite.

Typical scene in Arambol.

It is easy to see why tourists fall in love with Arambol. The beach is wide and clean. No horse flies (like in New Jersey)! The beach huts are dirt cheap, and you can get hearty good food at places like Danny's for a song.

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.

South India: Goa: Siolim House, Part II

Siolim House, Part II





Siolim House serves serious breakfasts, which is included in the price. You get a choice of tea or coffee, fresh fruit and fresh fruit juice, toast, and eggs prepared any style. Everything is made to order --- no continental buffet table here --- so you are really forced to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Like with everything else about Siolim, their breakfasts were superb.

Clockwise from left: fresh juice cocktail (papaya and pineapple), tea, yogurt, fresh papaya and pineapple. DJKung and I were not used to the papaya, unfortunately. It had a burning sensation going down.

This is a picture from another breakfast. Fresh watermelon juice was available that day. The coffee was pretty good too!

Scrambled egg on toast.

" Indian breakfast." This was a couscous-type dish flavored with mustard seeds and kaffir leaf. Reminded me a lot of Keralan cuisine, actually.

Siolim House also serves light lunches and dinners, which you have to preorder, as everything is made fresh. On our last night, we splurged on their dinner. It was a good decision.

DJKung enjoying a predinner drink and some nibblin's.




Superfatty enjoying a predinner drink too. We both had King's Beer (available only in Goa--- the liquor laws seem pretty arcane in India; all the beers had regional boundaries where they can be sold, except for Kingfisher, the no. 1 brand)

We also chatted with other guests who opted to have dinner in-house that night. There were two English ladies, the jolly French dude, Varun and his friend from Vietnam, and Varun's mum. Varun treated us to a glass of Sula (chenin blanc?), which is India's biggest winemaker. It was crisp and dry, had a bit of a bite.

Then it was off to our own candlelit table by the pool. It was a clear night and the stars were out. It was really romantic, but DJKung and I kept giggling, we could not believe we were having this intimate, sophisticate dinner. And we were buzzed, too.

House rolls (we saw the kitchen staff kneading the dough that morning). It was chewy and buttery, went well with the rich French-style mushroom soup.



The infamous King's beer. Since this was our last night at Siolim, of course we had seconds (or was it thirds?). This was the best beer we've tried, flavorful, hoppy and pretty smooth. (The other two beers were Royal Challenge/Kerala, a watery lager, and Kingfisher, which was harsh and gave me a whopper of a hangover).

Rice with prawn chili fry and sauteed veggies. Chili fry seems to be the local Goan dish. The prawns were big, succulent and superfresh. DJKung said that this was excellent.

Steamed fish in spices and wrapped in banana leaf, rice, sauteed and fresh veggies. The fish was fresh, and the spice mix was just right.

Dessert was ice cream topped with fruit preserves and syrup. We were stuffed.

The meals we've had at Siolim were just excellent. We were truly sad that we had to check out by the fourth day. DJKung and I highly recommend Siolim House with no reservations.