Marooned by the Monsoon? Five Dinner Options in Varca

Varca gets very rainy in June. And that is when we were there last. In fact, June is when we've been going there for the past few years. So we were well prepared.

The area is not as tourist-oriented as other parts of Goa. And we spotted many unfortunate holiday makers marooned outside fancy resorts, caught in the sudden downpours that spell the season. All togged up, these people had nowhere to go with no transport to hire in sight.

For us, there was no problem during the day. But, as the sun goes down, when heavy downpours are frequent, it's not fun to drive around, clad in raincoats! On earlier visits we have been to Kinara for dinner. But, on that visit, the rains were not as frequent or as heavy as they were this June.

Kinara is really handy for tourist or local alike. The little darling of a place has already found mention on this blog and, while it does deliver, we were a little outside the ambit this time. 

This time, however, we mostly ordered in. The hotel had two menus and those served us quite well for the duration. 

I have not visited either place but the food was hot and tasty and wonderful for the wet weather. We could catch a film on our laptop whilst munching away and, outside, it would be raining cats and dogs mostly.

Feed More was one such. However, it opens for orders only at 8 pm and the delivery is slightly slow.

So, we mostly ended up ordering from Vicksunn Food Point. For the two of us, as we eat lightly, it came to a little under Rs 200. We ordered butter naan or garlic cheese naan and one was more than enough for us at our age. The main dish would be chicken or fish. 

Looking at the map I wonder if this place used to be called Arturos. 

A couple of times, we brought back dinner from two popular food carts. 

The Moses Orlim fast food center is pretty famous. When we went there, it was around six in the evening and there was a goodly crowd. Mostly locals and a few tourists like ourselves who had discovered this gem off Google Maps. Families and groups of friends were ordering like there's no tomorrow. A set of ladies had come all the way from Calangute, more than an hour away! 

They have all kinds of fillings and we chose a couple. There are all sorts of condiments to garnish the finished creation and, as we watched them in action, we chatted with a couple of young boys working for one of the hotel booking sites. 

Another day, we got some food packed from a food truck that comes and parks near the road in the evenings. It basically has foods similar to the Moses Orlim fast food center. 

It's opposite Cowboy's Family Restaurant, which we've not tried yet though it was recommended by a fellow shopper at Magsons Gourmet, a great little supermarket in Varca. 

With a little effort one can even imagine getting something from there and whipping up an easy dinner at the hotel, since many now do keep some basic cooking arrangements. And that is the fifth option that I can give you - we used leftovers from lunch and with the microwave and the stoves provided it's easy to have a tasty and filing meal.

Now dinner's done, we shall loiter around Varca one last time, in search of snacks for the monsoon. Cheers till then! 

Many a Feni at Spicy Bar, Carmona - Zen and the Art of Paddy Field Bathing

Forest bathing is in vogue, a panacea to the many ills of modern life. If there's no forest in sight, paddy fields do the trick as neatly. 

Spicy Bar, Carmona, nestles amidst these verdant stretches. The soothing silence is only now and then punctuated by a rare passing motorist on the narrow, but not straight, little road that runs through the fields. Now and again, a man will holler at his buffaloes or dogs will break into barking. But, as for most of the time, it's only the birds and, perhaps, the sea. Indeed, one day, a cyclone was announced and the winds were quite breezy with their tunes.

At other times, we, or other patrons, played some music off our phones. Sometimes, people spoke to each other but, otherwise, there is such an air of sanctity there that one reduces words and becomes lost in the sound of one hand clapping.
  
Our days in Varca, this June, often began with time on the beach. The area has splendid stretches of spotlessly clean sand and mornings saw blissful walks along the shore. After that, a warm shower, some hours of work and off we set for Spicy Bar.

Besides the three meals of the day, we often enjoyed a snack at Spicy Bar.

Sole fish and feni

The owner is a dog lover and feeds the lot that loll around with buns. However, that does not mean it's gone to the dogs!

We had a couple of other dishes and sometimes had to ask to doggy bag leftovers. And that took care of a dinner or lunch.

Such a dish was ample 

We met some very nice people at the Spicy Bar. First and foremost is young Maruti who serves with a handsome smile and who is, basically, the sole engine of this shrine. We also met people who live in and around Carmona and they were kind enough to recommend places to eat at. I would say that it would be hard to find such civil human beings at other such places in India.

Large helpings!

This place holds a special place in my heart and it is now our third trip to Varca and the charm grows!

After this short sacred ritual, we'd be off for lunch - and you can read about those in a previous post.

It is these modest little places that turn out to be gems, not the gaudy, expensive, and noisy tourist traps. 

8 Breakfasts in and around Varca

This is our third Goa monsoon trip. Each year we've reached Goa with the rain. The first day, the 5th of June, though the traditional date for the onset of the monsoon here, is generally fairly hot. And then come the rains!

Monsoon beauty, Goan Imperial Holidays, Varca

We arrived early in the morning by the Goa Express. Even though it was a wee bit late it was still an early check-in and it began to rain and pour the moment we reached The Goan Imperial Holidays.

Now, Varca and its environs are not as touristy as the rest of Goa . Most of Goa boasts all kinds of eateries, and most of those cater to the tourist hordes. Also, come the monsoon, most such places close shop for the season. 

Generally, hotels offer breakfast as part of the deal. However, looking at reviews on the Net, one finds a lot of complaints about the food. Indeed, it has been explained that these are not actually free since a somewhat lower rate is one that is minus the meal. On this trip we had an excellent deal for the stay but sans breakfast. 

I'm all for the 'free' breakfast. There have been those about which one ends up daydreaming. Ones in Bali, in Kota Kinabalu... And I'm sure the costlier hotels here also do something of the sort. As for Goa, I've had the free breakfasts at Ocean Suite and it suited us well and more. Fatima makes rather nice aloo parathas and you enjoy a fairly comprehensive spread, including bread, butter, jam, tea and coffee and she also makes a couple of other Indian items - upma, for instance. 

The next stay was at Amigo Plaza and breakfast was not included in the deal. However, I'd gladly have paid and had some as everything smelled divine and their tea was excellent. It was November 8, 2017 and we discovered that we had a budget of zero. 

Lazy Frog has a decent breakfast service with dear Barnard dishing up some heart melting club sandwiches and poori bhajis. The winner here, given the cafeteria setting.  

Given the time and the place and our deal, we knew that breakfast might be a problem until we got a vehicle and so we hired one with the help of Corine, your go-to-person for everything at the GIH - the rooms have the phone numbers to call for this and that stuck to the back of the door which is very convenient. 

Then we enjoyed a long hot wash - the 1 BHK has a good geyser and both shower and taps worked fine. There is also a bucket and mug which makes everything so much the easier.

We had leftovers from the dinner we'd packed for the overnight train journey -lemon rice, potato fry, tomato sabzi. We nuked those in the microwave in the adequately furnished kitchenette and it made a fabulous brunch.

All cleaned up we explored our hideaway for the next 8 days. The kitchenette is in the living space, with microwave, toaster, induction plate and kettle. There are pots and pans and plates and microwave dishes as well as cutlery and cups and such.

From the next day on, we would enjoy the seashore in the morning, and return to have a bath before exploring the area for breakfast options. Both of us were eager to find places that the locals favoured. Having already visited Laxmi Cafe, Janot Bazar, Carmona, where we'd had a wonderful shrimp dish for breakfast on a previous visit, we hit that one first. The place is next to a Cedric Bakery.  

Alas, we were too early for the shrimps but their bhaji and pav was great. This appears to be the regular breakfast around here. 

The next day it was raining as we set out towards Benaulim and a kind person directed us to Hotel Satkar.

We had a puri breakfast which was quite appropriate for the weather. 

The day after, we had bhaji pav at a small eatery near the Cavelossim Church. Now, this same dish varies ever so subtly at each place. There is a peppery tang that is divine. Omkar served theirs with a garnish of chopped onions. 

The next breakfast was at Mother Recipes and this was indeed a marvelous experience. It's a family run place - as with most of the places we ate at on this trip. The proprietor and his family offer rare and pleasant hospitality. The bhaji pav was yum!

Make Goan Bhaji

Every morning after a serene time on the beach we'd scout for a different local breakfast place and we thus found SG Cafe! We had the most melt-in-your-mouth club sandwich here. A young couple run it and it's a handy place set on the Carmona Road. 

Our last morning meal this trip was at a little nameless place, in Fatrade, much like Perpetual Place (near Varca Church), where we'd had some wonderful meat samosas. In fact, there are quite a few such places dotting the landscape and you can enjoy fresh snacks, assured that they are not going to do your tummy any harm.  

A gentleman from Varca, who had given us a good recommendation for a lunch place, told us, alas too late, that the place serves some fantastic sausage rolls. Since we met him on our way out we'd already had our bhaji with some of the below fresh pavs.

All these places are family run, clean and serve honest food that will keep you healthy on your trip whereas the tourist traps foster germs of all kinds.

Still, if all this is too rustic for you, there's always Kinara whose hospitable and helpful boys will welcome a visit, in and out of season. However, they only open at 11 AM.

I look forwards to my next trip to the area, now that I've discovered all these places, to try all the suggestions from the wonderful people I met there. Varca is Paradise! 

I leave you with two lists of breakfast places in the area from Tripadvisor:

Ten Best Breakfast Places in Varca

Ten Best Seafood Restaurants for Breakfast in Varca