It was the final night of the Calangute Carnival and Dee Joys Beach Shack was perfectly placed for a decent view of the stage. The shack had very few empty tables, but true to form these restaurants can easily be extended further to the beach–the only limit is the territory of the next shack and the boundary of the Arabian Sea. A table was found for us, and to begin with it felt strangely uncomfortable—the table was high or the chairs were low. The management decided the latter was more easily resolved and another plastic chair was stacked on top of the first one making it a perfect height.
We started off with a couple of nicely chilled large Kingfisher beers and pondered the menu card. It was nothing out of the ordinary but it did have a reasonable selection of vegetarian meals (our preferred choice in a beach shack) and a variety of "freshly caught" fish dishes. We were in no hurry (probably just as well because no-one in this restaurant was prepared to move anything other than slowly. In the words of some renowned wit, "if they were any more laid-back they’d be horizontal." "No worries, man," was a much-repeated maxim at this shack.
We placed our order for some potato pakoras, a cauliflower mutter, a pea marsala, steamed rice, and a Kahmiri Nan. "No hurry," I heard myself say as we settled down to enjoy the multi-cultured band that was about to perform. They sang a wide variety of music–a bit of jazz, some ethnic numbers, and straight European pop. Their performance was varied, but the beach party atmosphere would have seen them through anything. When the group changed over (to a couple of talented modern day hippy-types) the food arrived.
Now this was an unpretentious meal, and there was a distinct lack of subtlety as the combination of spices assaulted our taste buds. Certainly nothing to "write home about," but as cheap, substantial meals are concerned this one was up there with the winners. The nan, perhaps the largest we’ve ever been served, was crammed with fruit and was particularly flavoursome, and it proved ideal for mopping up the rich sauces that made up our two main dishes. We polished off the meal in good time, and I reckon our taste buds were now seriously damaged and our lips a-tingle from the hot spices unveiled in the mutter. Although we were fairly replete, we decided to have an ice cream as a dessert–we just needed to cool down the lips!
As a finale to this evening, the Goan night sky erupted in a mass of colourful explosions as an impressive fire work display began. It must have lasted a good 20 minutes with the explosions augmented by taped music from the stage. A great finish to a leisurely meal in a super setting.