Goa, India Dining Guide to the Food & Drink Scene

Goa is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations. The southwestern Indian state, which is split into northern and southern districts along the Konkan coast, welcomes millions of visitors from other parts of India who party the night away with affordable booze. Known as India’s Sunshine State, the area is also a favorite for foreign tourists, who frequent resorts, guesthouses, and beach cabanas, lured by the state’s sun, sand, and susegado, the Goan version of the laid-back life. Local food businesses have responded in kind. Walk along the famous stretch of beaches between Candolim and Baga, and you’ll encounter North Indian dishes like palak paneer or dal makhani, restaurant brands imported from major Indian cities, and Western burgers. Goa’s incredibly diverse, flavorful cuisine rarely makes appearances in the buzzier areas.

But Goans nurture a deep love for their food, evident in everyday meals (like little touches of pickled fruits) and special occasions (like the 16-layer egg-and-coconut cakes that appear around Christmas). Locals tie together recipes, ingredients, and kitchen know-how from Portugal, South India, and other parts of the world, creating a culinary legacy that often goes overlooked by tourists. Across Goa, you’ll find a vivid mix of breakfast joints, roadside carts, generations-old taverns, and contemporary resto bars, all proudly contributing to Goa’s culinary narrative.

There are opportunities to escape the tourist circuit in the capital, Panjim (also known as Panaji), as well as the coastal towns, islands, and inland villages. After just a few meals, you’ll know why Goa is one of India’s most underrated food destinations.

A hand holds up a dish, consisting of rice with various curries and other items, in front of a tropical background. — A dish composed in the forest on a Soul Travelling tour.

What’s the food in Goa like?

Although small in size, the state has a layered cuisine from centuries of power shifts. Hindu royal families and Muslim dynasties ruled Goa before the Portuguese arrived in 1510. The Portuguese colonized the area for about 450 years and heavily influenced culinary traditions in the process; many dishes and desserts still have Portuguese-derived names. Goa also acted as a center of trade with Arab merchants and other territories of the Portuguese empire, like Japan, Indonesia, and Mozambique, bringing in spices along with textiles, horses, and other goods.

Goan food largely relies on locally grown rice and seafood like Bombay duck, mackerel, kingfish, pomfret, mussels, and prawns. The coconut palm is especially important; it’s used to produce palm jaggery, scraped coconut meat, vinegar (commonly used to add sour notes to dishes or pickle produce), and coconut milk that thickens stewy vegetable curries like khatkhatem.

In terms of meat, chicken, lamb, and beef appear often at Goan celebrations, but pork is king. Although there’s a common stereotype that pork carries a stigma across India, the pig is integral to many Indian cuisines, including Goan, where every part of the fattened animal is put to precise use. The state’s cuisine also makes use of abundant spring and summer produce, like cashews, mangoes, jackfruit, and kokum.

A diner uses a piece of a bread roll to scoop up a saucy dish. — Digging in with pao.

Key terms for food lovers

Pao and poee

Ask any Goan and they’ll tell you that local life is deeply tied to pao (Portuguese for bread): puffy, square-shaped, golden-crusted rolls. Baking has a long, nuanced history in Goa running back to the mid-16th century. In her book Cozinha de Goa: History and Tradition of Goan Food, Fátima da Silva Gracias explains that Portuguese missionaries taught European techniques to one of the communities in coastal Majorda in southern Goa; from there the knowledge spread across the state and up the northwestern coast of India.

Traditionally, dough was fermented with sur (palm wine), adding a fluffy texture, though most bakers use yeast today. Freshly baked pao makes a great pairing with curry or an omelet. There are also other types of bread, like the popular poee, a hollow discus of leavened whole-wheat bread. Across Goan villages, you’ll still find a poder (breadman) on his bicycle delivering freshly baked pao and poee to every house.

A tray of raw squid. — Squid is just one of many types of local seafood.

Kokum

A member of the mangosteen family, kokum is a tropical fruit that grows wild in the forests along the Konkan coast. A common souring agent in the region, the sun-dried outer flesh of the fruit is also boiled to prepare drinks and cooling condiments.

Thali

The assortment of dishes in a lunch thali varies across India according to region, community, and class. In Goa, a thali typically comes with rice, coconutty and tangy fish curry, vegetables, solkadhi (a cooling coconut milk and kokum drink), and a choice of spicy, fried fish or prawns. Some Goan thalis also include kismur (a condiment combining coconut with fish or dried prawns), pickles, and traditional desserts like bebinca (layered cake).

Rava fry

You’ll often see fish rava fry or prawns rava fry on restaurant menus. A common way to prepare seafood, this involves marinating fish with chile powder, turmeric, and salt before coating items in a thin layer of rava (semolina) and shallow frying them for a delightful, subtle crunch. Rava is also used for frying potatoes, okra, and eggplant.

A bowl of pickled green mangos beside the jar they came from. — Pickled mango.

Feni

Long before the Portuguese arrived in Goa, locals were making feni, a colorless, aromatic spirit originally derived from the sap of the coconut flower. When the Portuguese introduced cashews to the state, many distillers switched to cashew apples for their base. Today, feni is so strongly associated with Goa, the state received a geographical indication (GI) tag for the drink, a mark of quality. Feni is usually enjoyed neat or with Limca (lemon-lime soda), but you’ll also find bars making creative cocktails with this heritage spirit. Homegrown brands like Aani Ek also sell artisanal feni infused with chile, lime, or honey and cinnamon.

Xacuti

Chicken, beef, lamb, crabs, and chickpeas all get slow-cooked in xacuti-style curry. A labor of love, this dish combines ingredients like dried Kashmiri red chiles, poppy seeds, peppercorns, and coconut meat, along with other herbs and spices, all sauteed and pounded to make a spicy, aromatic gravy. Xacuti is usually served with rice, but leftovers are also great drizzled over an egg omelet.

Recheado

Much like the ubiquitous rava fry, recheado fish fry or recheado masala shows up on a lot of Goan menus. Recheado is a red spice blend prepared with Kashmiri red chiles and herbs. This marinade is usually stuffed inside or coated on a fish before it’s shallow-fried.

Sorpotel

A hot, sour, vinegary curry commonly made by those living along the Konkan coast, sorpotel traditionally features pork meat and offal including heart, liver, tongue, and blood. It’s mostly a ceremonial dish, prepared for special days like Christmas and weddings, when it’s served alongside sanna (soft, steamed, rice-flour discs).

A tour group talks with a store owner in front of his shop. — Chatting with the locals.

Where to eat in Panjim, North Goa, and South Goa

Panjim

Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro

This 1930 Goan Portuguese bakery is located in a tiny alley in the Fontainhas neighborhood of Panjim’s Latin Quarter, tucked among the vibrant houses sporting red tiled roofs and picturesque porches. Grab one of the outdoor tables — covered with azulejo ceramic tiles depicting scenes of Goan life — to people-watch with one of the bakery’s prawn rissois (cheesy, prawn-stuffed, half-moon patties) and other classics like Swiss rolls and chocolate-rum balls. Come early for the bebinca, Goa’s famous, pudding-like layered cake (believed to have been first made by a nun in the 17th century), which is golden brown, eggy, and sweet.

Cafe Tato

Since 1913, Goans have made the multiple locations of Tato synonymous with a quick snack, tea, and breakfast. Staples include a range of vegetarian bhaji, like the sukhi (a dry potato dish), onion and tomato salad, mushrooms, or cowpeas. Each dish comes with a choice of puri (deep-fried whole wheat bread), pao, or fluffy, deep-fried banana-wheat buns dusted with cumin (like you might find in Mangalore down the coast).

Two spongy dosas served on a wooden board with a small clump of orange chutney, presented with a split coconut. — Adsarache pole at Aayi’s.

Kokni Kanteen

Indian tourists from other states flock to this little restaurant, which continuously hums with Konkani songs. You’ll definitely have to line up for the lunchtime fish thali, the restaurant’s most famous dish, which includes fried kingfish, mussels, dry prawns, and a lightly spiced fish curry, served alongside rice and other items like solkadhi.

Bombil

Smack dab at the heart of Panjim, Bombil is a love letter to the small joints that once dotted Goa. The no-frills restaurant with vivid, yellow walls serves food inspired by owner Joseph Dias’s upbringing, especially the simple food cooked by his grandparents. Look for favorite bites like semolina-coated fried lepo (sole) or go for the daily lunch, which includes white rice with mango pickles, bombil (dried Bombay duck), and sorak (spiced, tangy coconut gravy known as “spinster curry” since it doesn’t include meat or fish). The menu also features kalchi kodi (day-old sorak eaten with hot pao and a fried egg) and more elaborate dishes, like a thali with kingfish that was part of the Sunday feasts of Dias’s childhood.

North Goa

The Local Table

Dining at the Local Table feels like visiting old friends. The casual atmosphere adds to the warm welcome from chef Gaurish Madgaonkar and his wife, who run the place with help from their young daughter. The restaurant’s menu is a world apart from the North Indian style dhabas (roadside food stalls) catering to tourists along the busy Candolim Beach Road. Try the rava-coated silver pomfret, which is shallow-fried on a low flame, or the crab xacuti. Wash down your meal with a refreshing glass of kokum soda.

Sabor Cafe

Once a sleepy little village with colonial-era residences, Assagao is now nicknamed the Beverly Hills of Goa for its fancy cafes, luxe boutique hotels, and fine dining venues. For a pocket-friendly option in the area, head to Sabor. Goan co-owner Jack Gerald opened the charming cafe in 2022, serving local snacks with modern twists (like roasted pork sandwiches on poee). With paned windows and indigo walls, it almost feels like a slice of Portugal in Goa.

A large hunk of crab meat attached to legs, served in a bowl with a light sauce. — Crab sukhi at Aayi’s.

Aayi’s

While Brahmins across India are generally known to be strictly vegetarian, the coastal influences are evident in the fish dishes of Goa’s Saraswat Brahmin. Though the cuisine is rarely seen outside private homes, Shubhra Shankhwalker wants to promote the cuisine to a wider audience while honoring century-old recipes from her community. Set in a farmhouse in North Goa, Aayi’s — meaning “mother’s” — serves an experiential, hyperlocal, multicourse menu. Shankhwalker uses handpicked ingredients from local markets and fishmongers to make dishes like kalundarche hooman (pearl spot fish curry) and adsarache pole (tender coconut dosa with garlic chutney).

Susegad Anjuna

This incredible, little food truck in Mazal Waddo is just a 30-minute walk from the famous Anjuna beach. Everything here is home-cooked and perfect for a quick, affordable evening snack. While there are several meat-stuffed poee on offer, the winner is clearly the truck’s choris pao: poee stuffed with Goan pork sausage (originally influenced by Portuguese chouriço) that’s spicy and tangy with vinegar.

Home-Made Goan Fish Curry

Tucked away in a small dirt road far away from Anjuna’s buzz, this small, confusingly named restaurant gets busy at lunchtime, when people pile in for the fish thali. Order the rava fry prawns, grab a chair beneath the tin roof, and dig in with locals who prefer to keep this place a secret.

South Goa

Monte Carlo

If you want to go where the locals eat, head to Monte Carlo. The family-run place in the village of Betalbatim offers Goan classics like pork jeerem meerem, a spicy, tangy gravy made with herbs like cumin, peppercorn, turmeric, and green chile, flavored with tamarind syrup, tomatoes, and vinegar. Look out for the tora shiro, pickled mango slices served alongside mains.

A dish of rice and torn papad (wafers), smoking from some kind of coal in the middle. — Papadachi kismoor, a side dish made of local spicy papad, at Aayi’s.

Mon Petit Frère

A tiny, open-air bakery, coffee shop, and brunch spot with rustic interiors in Colva, one of South Goa’s famous beach areas, Mon Petit Frère is one of those unexpected gems you find during a Goan holiday. Famous for breakfasts and Sunday brunches of Western-style eggs, crepes, pancakes, and falafel burgers, the cafe also serves house-made sourdough loaves, chocolate almond banana muffins, cinnamon buns, and handmade pasta dishes. Go for coffee and stay for the basque cheesecake that’s developed a cult following.

Ulhas

Ulhas is a gaddo (street stall) specializing in ros omelet. Your choice of spicy chickpeas or chicken xacuti curry is drizzled over a fluffy omelet, topped with chopped onions and coriander leaves, and served with fresh pao and a lime wedge.

Kausar’s Biryani

Perhaps the best place for biryani in all of Goa, Kausar’s offers homestyle chicken and mutton dum biryani (layers of rice and meat slow-cooked in a large pot). There are also other popular Indian dishes like butter chicken; Mangalorean chicken ghee roast marinated with spices, curry leaves, ghee, and jaggery; and desserts like sheer khurma (sweet vermicelli pudding) prepared by Muslims during Eid.

Cavatina by Avinash Martins

At his Benaulim restaurant, renowned chef Avinash Martins serves Goan food with a contemporary twist, including a modern take on Indigenous Goan food and highly seasonal produce. Check out the spanakopita made with Goan tambdi bhaji (red amaranth) and cashew butter; or go for Martins’s toranja starter, a local pomelo tossed with onions, cilantro, cucumber, mint, dried Bombay duck, and a tangy, spicy dressing of chiles, tamarind, and jaggery.

A tall red cocktail accented with spice mixture striped horizontally down the outside of the glass. — A cocktail at the Flying Goat.