Upmarket Dining in Baga

Every Monday night (Sundays as well in the height of the season), a local group performs. A melodic three-piece band led, according to the waiter, by a tall Liverpudlian called Dave (it turned out he was from Essex!), who did great renditions of songs by the "fab four." They were not straight copies, but his own "cool" versions of the greats. On another night we ate spinach and mushroom pancake with a white sauce and a vegetable au gratin with plain boiled rice. Just right and a final settler for our griping intestines! A particularly tasty "homemade" apple pie with vanilla ice cream rounded off the meal. Infantaria is well worth a visit or two!

Eating in Goan restaurants is a tranquil and unhurried experience, and I was pleased to say that other than the odd one or two, we had some great dining experiences. Food is embarrassingly cheap, and in our experience, there was always plenty of it. We would often have a starter to share, a couple of main meals to split, and a dessert each. As we always made it clear at the onset many of the restaurants, they would bring extra cutlery and plates to accommodate our meals. Certainly none of them showed any reluctance or surprise at our intentions. Meals were always served with a smile (well, there was the odd exception!), and the staff were attentive but unobtrusive. Some fine dining experiences!

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We did lay our hands on a free pamphlet, "Find All," supported by the Goan Tourist board. In the 50 pages, it told of the month’s events and had small write-ups of loads of restaurants. We guessed that only the restaurants that could afford to "advertise" would find their way into the covers of this brochure, but it was helpful, especially if you wanted to check out the kind of entertainment that might be available around town. You won’t be lost without this publication, but it’s a helpful planning aid.

Generally we preferred to walk to and from the restaurants of our choice, and it was interesting that the local taxi drivers were soon saying to us "you walk—it’s very healthy for you!" They still tried, however, to book in for a "job" the next day! Walking around the town at night is perfectly safe. It’s sensible to carry a torch, because the town is regularly plagued with random electricity cuts and the streets are not pothole free! However, the Baga Road is not a street to saunter down. It’s a busy road where tuk-tuks, taxis, buses, and bikes all fight for poll position. As a pedestrian, you need to be alert and ready to move well over to the side—I often felt the overtaking mirror of a passing taxi glance my arm as it manoeuvred the obstacle course of the Baga Road. With caution, you’ll have a truly memorable experience!

There was quite an upmarket feel to this extremely popular al fresco restaurant. We’d walked past it several times and it was always busy and buzzing. So on a Sunday night we decided to dine here. A number of the tables were reserved and I reckon that we got one of the last remaining places in the restaurant. We sat down to consider the menu and then realised that it was O’Pescador’s special night – Sunday is karaoke night. I muttered something about nightmares and disasters and then we both shrugged and decided to sit tight. After all, neither of us intended to participate! If you don't fancy karaoke then Lui, a local musician, performs here live on a Wednesday night.

The dining layout was quite lavish with heavily padded wrought iron chairs ensuring comfort and wooden tables adorned with rich deep blue table cloths, bordered with golden brocade edging, adding to the opulence. Maroon cloth napkins, a substantial cruet and a smart candleholder all complimented the effect. Whilst ordering our meal the singing started and I was extremely surprised at the quality of the voices. We were treated to song after song both from the resident singer, who had a fine voice just perfect for the easy listening jazz numbers of the rat pack era, and a range of really competent guest or karaoke singers. Obviously the odd one disappointed, but overall this was not the tacky affair that we dreaded. We actually quite enjoyed it!

The overall ambiance of this restaurant was great and an interesting array of lights highlight and compliment the plants that flourished in the garden. The place was a mass of fairy lights and a host of star shaped lanterns giving some interesting hues and occasionally some eerie shadows.

Our first course was described as fish fingers, but in truth it was a fine blend of fresh fish and herbs breaded and deep fried. They were served, piping hot on a bed of finely chopped salad and with an exquisitely tasty freshly made tartar sauce. What a superb starter for our meal. We stuck with vegetarian as our main course, although there was a good range of meat dishes (not all Indian) and opted for a cauliflower and button mushroom bake alongside spinach with cottage cheese. I’m afraid we just fancied French fries as the accompaniment. There was no major delay in this being cooked and soon we were tucking into our delicious main courses.

I'd eaten sufficient but my wife was intent on having a desert and I'm too much of a gentleman to let her eat alone! So I had an ice-cream with a warm chocolate sauce. Mmmm - delicious. And to top off the meal we had a couple of Irish Coffees.

This was a great meal in a great venue and our meal only cost us 635 rupees (just over £8 for both of us!). A real bargain for quality fayre.

We made a couple of visits to the Alton Garden Restaurant. It’s a clean-looking westernised restaurant, nothing great in appearances, just set back from the busy Baga Road. Despite its name, there’s no real sign of extensive gardens, but the perimeter of the restaurant is dense with vegetation to hide the main street from the view of the diners.

In effect, all the dining area is al fresco, but there’s a large covered eating area. The pantiled roof is supported by a combination of chunky, carved wooden pillars and classic yellow painted concrete columns. There are massive ceiling fans, which are ceremonially turned on if diners choose the "covered area." We opted for the outside, and although the hedging separated us from the road, we were "treated to great entertainment one night." The Baga Road was gridlocked and a cacophony of sounds pierced through the barmy Baga skies as horns were sounded, children sang away their frustration on the local buses, and Tuk-Tuks revved high. No one seemed to get too angry, but the traffic was immobile for over 10 minutes. Thereafter, we were treated to a variety of European music being gently played as background music.

Bright yellow, blue, and red checked cloths adorned the wooden table and there were really comfortable padded bamboo chairs. Just perfect for relaxing in and enjoying a first class meal! Smart cruets, linen serviettes, and heavy cutlery completed the stylish table presentation. But most importantly to compliment all of this the food was first class. A Marseille salad (with egg, tuna, tomatoes and lettuce in a tasty dressing) with loads of complimentary bread, was a great starter. We both opted for steak. These were extremely well cooked (medium to rare as we’d specified) and were served with a small but well prepared vegetable accompaniment and a choice of potatoes. On our second visit I had filet mignon (three superbly cooked medallions of beef served with, onion rings, mushroom, carrots, peas, and fries) whilst my wife greedily tucked into three chunky pork chops, served with "dainty" tin foil covers to enable the final gnawing to take place with minimal mess.

Complimentary deserts of tasty strawberries were offered to round off the meal (we’d actually ordered a pudding on our first visit so missed out on the freebie!). The third course was wittily described on the menu as "toothpicks," and we enjoyed a fifth course of a Gaelic coffee. What a great way to finish off a superb meal.

Alton Gardens is not the busiest or the flashiest restaurant on the Baga Road, but it is totally unpretentious and service is efficient and friendly. My final observation, an important one for India, relates to the establishment’s toilets. I’m not normally drawn to comment on washrooms, but these were scrupulously clean and odour free – a great positive when dining out in India!