The 10.30AM view of Jade Garden from the pool. Our apartment overlooked the pool and was on the first floor making it easy to supervise Anoushka for a short while till we got down there to be with her.



 Anjuna Beach was a total disappointment. Nothing like how I remember it from a few years ago. It is now dirty, the waters are quite nasty and the hawkers can drive you nuts. We settled on the beach beds of Janet and Jack's and so close were we to the water that at one point the waves came and washed our shoes away. Thankfully grabbed them all and placed them on higher ground.

Calangute on the other hand, for all its commercialization was where we had the most fun and that's the beach that you see in the picture above. Anoushka was under-age and under-height (maybe I was too!) for most of the water rides and seeing how rough the waters were I wasn't really going to venture in. We settled at Tipsy shack, which was basically the first one in the line. For Rs 300 we got two sunbeds with two large clean towels to ourselves till 5PM. We were at the beach from 11AM to 4PM. I made my first acquaintance with Mr. Tom Collins and it was love at first sight. Anoushka and I spent most of the time in the water, which resulted in a tan that was show off worthy!

Of course Goa is always calling... the beach is a place that I am always at total peace. So till we head out there again, I will keep adding to my list of places to visit in Goa. It is a place that never fails to please and surprise!

We were first taken by Uncle Desmond to this place called Florentino's, in Arpora. It is quite a nondescript place and is actually situated off a long winding road that seems to lead to nowhere. You take a right turn and then slam!!! you almost run the car up the restaurant's portico. The place looks like it has been set up in someone's front yard. A stone's throw away are homes of other families, many of whom will come out to ogle at you shamelessly. Of course day one in Goa and the first thing we ordered was cold beer. Long live KF!!!!

With the thirst quenchers in place it was now time for the food. Amongst the starters we ordered, the masala coated fried prawms. These were coated in rava and fried crisp with the tails still on. Since they were steaming hot, they really were a treat. The next was a plate heaped with mussels/squid garlic fry. While Sudhakar did not really like this.. I completely loved the subtle flavouring of the garlic. 

This is by far the only restaurant in the whole of Goa that serves Goan food but does not serve pork. Though that was disappointing... it was more than compensated by the fact that we had excellent sea food and a good beer to wash it down.

Another place worth mentioning is George or Georgies as it is called by the locals, near the famous Panjim church. We chanced on this place and it has some of 'THE' most tastiest goan pork sausage pulao ever. When the pulao first came it did not really look all that great. There was a mound of yellow rice that covered the entire base of sausages. But once you mix the two - heaven on earth. Sudhakar, who is more open to newer dishes decided to go in for a goan delicacy - the beef tongue roast. This dish came smelling delidecius (as anoushka would put it) and had the tongue sliced with a generous helping of sliced onions, capsicum and garlic. Sudhakar vouches for the fact that the dish was great. 

Another good restaurant was Hibiscus which is just past the bridge on the Baga road. This restaurant too was an experiment. It said Chinese food but the menu had Indian, Chinese and Italian. Thankfully we had enough of us to try out all cuisines. I must say that the pasta bolognaise I ordered was amongst the best of Italian pastas that I have had. The sauce was tangy, the meat chunky, the number of olives just right and the seasoning superb. Sudhakar opted for a pasta in white sauce which was equally good. My dad opted for his standard sweet and sour pork with mixed fried rice and noodles for mom.... The chinese food too was right on target. For desserts we had an assortment of fruit salads, cheesecakes and brownies... all of which I will definitely recommend.

Of course for three day in Goa, this is about as much as we could cover. We also heard that a place called Martin's is really good in terms of food and the ambience. Maybe someone could try it and let us know :)

The place is dimly lit. There is a raised rafter platform on which are also set some tables. Everything has a wooden feeling to it. The place was crowded even for off season and non weekend time. 

Though the place was recommended, we winged it when it came to selecting something from the

 menu. We started of with a round of beers and to go with that - a prawn cocktail, fish fingers and some french fries. The fish fingers literally looked like fingers, were crispy, coated with rava and fried just right. The french fries were not what you would normally expect - these were freshly cut potatoes and not the processed ones and as far as our family goes, it is an acquired taste.

The waiter then suddenly brought the beautiful wine glass filled to the brim with something white and was about to set it down when we tried telling him that we were at starters and not desserts. And he turns around and says, no madam, this is your prawn cocktail.  

And so it came to be that we had the most wonderful prawn cocktail. The prawns were cooked and then immersed in a glass full of mayonnaise that had a twist of lime and ginger. Thin slivers of sliced pickled sliced onions made for quite an interesting base. 

For the main course, we opted to have a prawn caldin curry with white rice - Caldin being an exquisite gravy made of coconut juice. The prawns were decent in size. Anoushka had a chicken xacuti gravy with rice. This was just the right amount of pungent and tangy and was a meal she relished. I am a fanatic of Goan pork sausages. I ordered, spicy fried goan pork sausages with sannas. The sannas were a disappointment considering they were rubber hard. And so I demolished the scrumptiously delicious sausages with a round of garlic roti. The sausages were fried crisp in their own juices and the fat amount was just right.

Such a meal should have a dessert that complements it totally and we ordered well for ourselves. I had the strawberry cheesecake, while sudhakar opted for the chocolate fudge brownie. There was also the usual round of bebinca and caramel custard. 

All of this with drinks included came to 1500 bucks, which for 4 adults passes as good in my books. So next time you are in Goa, this place should be on your agenda, I know it will be on mine.