Cafe Goa — Restaurant in Pune

I've wanted to visit this place for a long time now. Punes fare of oriental, north Indian and south Indian food have left me fatigued. I've always wanted to have real Goan food. It's delightful to see that someone has bothered to omit paneer from the menu. Paneer is overrated and overdone. Baby corn and mushrooms taste much better.

We arrived at 8-8.30. The owner greeted us with a smile and a hello. I was surprised to see that Pune has a place where there is sufficient space between the tables. In certain restaurants and cafes, I've had to forcibly hear people's conversations. 1 more positive is its atmosphere. It is in a peaceful area in viman nagar. You can clearly hear your company speak. It’s also nice to have some peace and quiet. Cafe Goa is well lit. The walls are decorated with quirky art. Some from goa and some random. All interesting though :) the menu is concise. What they're good at, is easily understood. Our order- mushroom vindalho pomfret green curry veg xacuti chicken caffreal caramel custard

the vindalho is a wild beast. It is a Portuguese recipe apparently. Strong flavours of ginger and vinegar. Don’t order it if you can't handle strong flavours. I loved it!

The green curry grows on you. It won't blow your mind straightaway. But it'll work hard on impressing you through every morsel. At the end, you'll be left wanting for more.

Veg xacuti was a good follow-up to the vindalho. It had a dash of coconut. Lots of broccoli and multicolour capsicum. It had been cooked for a long time. Lovely dish overall

chicken caffreal hit the bulleye with its finesse.

Caramel custard can be improved i guess.

The owner started conversing with us and we clicked instantly because of our passion for food travel. We shared instances of finding great food in the most unexpected places. His favourites seem to be eating mutton curry at a small house in a village in satara and also; laal maans in Jaipur. His family has members from different states, which explains his belief in good food transcending ethnicity.

There is sound logic in every aspect of cafe goa. You might not find every dish on the menu. Simply because he couldn't procure top quality fish. Everything is freshly sourced. He follows the goan style of restaurants being operated from homes. They see their customers as family members. You won't serve your customers old ingredients, will you? It’s not a true-blue commercial establishment. They are more into serving their customers a good meal and an overall pleasant experience. The owner makes the food himself. He sees to it that it's the best possible version of the dish.

We also discussed some disturbing trends. one of his customers asked for mayo with the surmai fry. 4 guests expected 1 dish to be sufficient for them. people were mainly into nachos, pastas and burgers and multiple dips. misal is just mirchi powder in water paneer masala and butter chicken are the most ordered dishes in every restaurant. frozen pizzas, burger patties and pasta. Extremely impersonal and tasteless.

I request everyone reading this to rethink their food habits. strive to ask for better quality, more soul and real novelty in your food. appreciate the quaint(non-commercial) establishments. they need it more than you think.

I wish for the success of Cafe Goa. Thanks for restoring my faith in food exploration :) like in the end of every iron man movie- "tony stark (Apraajit Sharma)...

After much recommendations from so many people including goans themselves I visited Cafe Goa and it lived up to the expectations I had! The food is very GOOD ! All of us ordered different thalis from the menu as well as a cafreal and squid rechado for the table ! The Thalis when they came were not fancy and overloaded with extras but very to the point exactly as described! The prawn curry and rava fried prawns were 10/10 and on par with the best in goa ! The rawa fried pomfret could have been a tad bit better but nonetheless it was good… no complaints! The squid rechado and chicken cafreal were good by Pune standards but not on par with local goan standards, once again this was very tasty and good. The caramel custard and cerradura were EXCELLENT to end the meal with. The place is not fancy and very small and cozy so big groups will need to call in advance and reserve. Service was very good and they honestly did their best to make our meal comfortable and enjoyable. All in all it’s a very good restaurant which I would recommend to anyone looking to eat authentic goan food especially the curry. Will I return...

Remember that Goa road trip you planned with your besties where you were gonna get high on booze and Goan food while resting your feet in sand. But the plan got cancelled for unfortunate reasons. Well now you can enjoy that Goan cuisine right here in Pune. But you won't get the booze and sand here but the food is enough to take you back to Goa. We had Pomfret Fry for appetiser and Vindhalo Curry Rice for mains. Both were so amazing that we went on and ordered Caldin Curry and Rice even though we were full. We were able to finish it as it was finger licking and lip smacking. Portions were good enough for lunch. But suggest you to order a course for yourself if you are too hungry. The ambience is not much but Goan music and typical beach dressed staff gives you the feel. Wish there was some sand and coconut tree in front porch for a more authentic feel. But that's me. I'll be coming here again for the love of food and fish. Vegetarians beware you won't be able to enjoy as we did. It's your fault for...