Juju - Reimagined Indian — Restaurant in Goa

We visited Juju knowing it’s a fine dining spot, and we had already read reviews mentioning that the pricing is on the higher side. So yes — it’s expensive, but that’s expected. This review is not about price; it’s all about the food 🍽️, ambience 🌃, innovation 💡, and overall experience.

📍 Location & Ambience

Located in a quiet, upscale neighbourhood in Colva, the restaurant offers ample parking 🚗, which is a huge plus. The ambience is modern, elegant and trendy, with flashy lights, contemporary décor, and a refined vibe that makes it perfect for a special night out.

🎶 They had both recorded and live music during our visit. While the live crooner was a nice touch, he seemed a bit off beat— confused with pitches and not the most polished performance.

👨‍🍳 Service & Experience

☑️ Service was quick and efficient – we were pleasantly surprised by how fast the dishes came out. ☑️ The menu has fancy, creative names, so you’ll likely need a bit of help deciphering it. ☑️ Thankfully, the wait staff were polite, well-informed, and happy to explain each dish. That really helped enhance the experience.

🍴 What We Ordered & My Thoughts:

Goan Chorizo Chilly Tacos 🌮 – 3 pieces, tasty but not innovative. Chicken Tenders Travencore 🍗 – Boneless skewers on a flaming grill, well-cooked, but nothing out-of-the-box. Black Olive & Sundried Tomato Chicken Tikka 🐓 – Think Malai Tikka with a twist. Good, but nothing new. Tandoori Chicken and Bacon Quiche 🥓🥧 – Flavourful but tiny! Blink and it’s gone. Dill ka Tikka (Paneer) 🧀 – Soft and delicious. 3 tiny pieces gone in seconds, but again, nothing new. Gun Powder Calamari 🦑🔥 – Absolute showstopper! 10/10 – The BEST I’ve had in Goa. Perfect crunch, toasted curry leaves. Absolutely brilliant! Cheese Garlic Naan 🫓🧄 – Okay. Thalaserry Chicken Biryani 🍛 – Served in a banana leaf with raita. Tasty, with generous pieces, but I’ve had better elsewhere. Kori Gassi 🍗🥥 – Authentic and comforting, but common in Mangalorean households like ours 😊. Fish and Chips 🐟🍟 – Standard. Nothing surprising. Penne with Cheese Sauce 🍝🧀 – Cheesy and comforting. Kids would love it. Nothing innovative. Tender Coconut Rasmalai 🥥🍨 – 10/10 – beautifully innovative! Coconut milk, tender coconut bits, rasmalai, and shortbread. Absolutely divine! I shamelessly licked the bowl clean! Mysore Pak Cheesecake 🍰 – Loved the Mysore Pak base twist, but portion was tiny. Mocktails - Virgin Mojito, Pineapple Basil Lemonade and Ginger Honey Lemonade. Very refreshing.

📋 Final Notes:

☑️ Menu leans heavily towards South Indian flavours. ☑️ Limited options, especially for those who prefer boneless chicken. ☑️ Clear Veg/Non-Veg demarcation is appreciated. ☑️ 10% service charge is added but can be waived off on polite request.

🌟 Final Verdict:

Juju is all about ambience, presentation, and a curated fine dining experience. While some dishes were standard, Gunpowder Calamari and Tender Coconut Rasmalai truly stood out. Service was on point, and the staff made navigating the fancy menu easy. The music could use a little tuning 🎤😅, but the overall vibe is worth checking out if you’re...

British tourist reviewing. We went to Juju as it is affiliated with our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by how good this is. It genuinely is a modern re-imagination of Indian cuisine and could be argued to have elements of being a “fusion” menu. The service was friendly and quick also. In terms of the dishes we decided to try Tandoori Quiche, Pressed rice hara bars kebab, Sweet potato chaat (my girlfriends favourite dish), The Goan chorizo taco (my favourite dish), the Chorizo bacon and onion jam poizza (which is basically a pizza) as well as the Mutton shish kebab. The portion sizes are large and we liked everything we were served. Having eaten the lions share of the sharing plates, I was full but my girlfriend also had the Crème Caramal for desert which she enjoyed. We had a Peru Smash cocktail and 2 glasses of wine. Our bill came to circa £5,600 rupees which is around £51 which we think is excellent value for money especially for the amount of food we ordered and the portion size. I should add, this included a 15% discount because of the hotel affiliation but even without this, it is still good value for money. This price included taxes and a 10% tip. Staying at the hotel, we also had complimentary transfer too which makes it even better value for money. Whether you are staying at Beleze by the Beach or not, we would recommend a visit to Juju if you’re in South Goa, and we’re considering going back again to try what we missed - it is in the top 2 highlight meals we’ve had on our tour of India. EDIT. We revisited. Another good meal. We had the sweet potato sweet again followed by tempura prawns and the pork chop. For dessert, we had Kulfa and the coconut fig and chocolate tart. Another really good meal. We were reserved by Brendon again. Really good service once...

We visited the place today. Firstly the location is quite convenient, just off the Betal Batim- Colva rd. There's ample space for parking. The set-up is really classy, gives u a feel of a restaurant in 5 star hotel. The service is top class.

We ordered the following items for drinks: Bae of Bengal Guava Smash Ginger Basil Smash. They were refreshing, although the quantity might be a bit questionable.

For starters we had: Sarson ka Saag Haleem Tostadas Chicken Tenders Travencore. Every starter was delectable take on the traditional dishes . The taste & the presentation was really innovative & delicious. They served the Chicken tenders on skewers of burning mini BBQ set, that was really great as it kept the warmness & gave that fresh feel to the dish. Even the side peanut/Mayo sauce added to the flavour. Haleem was nice as the main item Mutton was nicely cooked. Sarson ka Saag was a bit of letdown though. The contemporary small bite on wholesome rustic dish didn't really a right feel.

In the main course we had: Veg Shashlik Butter Chicken Kodti

These are standard base dishes, how do u elevate? Juju's did it with a quirky twist though. The paneer again (served on BBQ set) was tender, fresh & melted in the mouth. Butter Chicken was given a great sheesh kabab twist with a kofta texture.

For Dessert: Coconut Fig Tart Tender Coconut Rasmalai. This was the highlight for us. The take on these 2 popular dishes was an outstanding show of modern culinary combined with lovable favourites which really made it a memorable outing for us. A point to add, the veg dishes (generally don't stack up to non-veg items in Goa) Juju's is an exception, with really good Vegetarian fare.

Keep up the good work 👍🏻

P.S. Special mention to Dave, who served us the Shisha which...