Right off the old Panjim highway is a chic CAFÉ whose neon lettering on a black background will certainly catch your attention first. Its inviting fish logo is sure to finally pull you in. Goan Fish Café is another recent addition to Panjim’s great collection of restaurants. Here’s more about it!
Started by a TEAM of professionals, Goan Fish Café offers the best of European, Continental & Goan cuisines to food lovers especially in Goa and all who comes to this beautiful state. What’s more, each course includes fish in it! From soups, salads, sandwiches, and pizzas right till the main course – you are sure to be embroiled in a fishy affair. Apart from the seafood, they do serve chicken and lamb as well.
The intention behind starting this Café was to provide a new kind of menu for the locals mainly and tourists, authentic and fresh. So they decided not to take up a beach-side property but take one further inside to engage and cater to the local population more. “Besides in Goa, being too far from the main roads doesn’t matter, people come looking for good food! So that’s what we worked on – giving the best of it!”
The TEAM dis its trial runs for the restaurant for almost three months they worked each dish to perfection – preparing it 3-4 times till all its components, preparation and look was achieved to perfection. Things like the food’s texture, colour, temperature, presentation etc… all were looked into. To keep the food look vibrant when served they ensured that the vegetables are freshly procured and cut for the preparation and not cut beforehand and stored frozen.
They also have an in-house baking unit, so they are able to bake their own bread like the Burger Bun or the Pizza Base or even the Garlic Loaf, it’s all made in-house. Now you know why eating out feels tastier and more exciting than at home – there is so much effort and preparation is done to get the final dish on the table! The CAFÉ was finally launched on 7th December 2017.
Don’t let the name fool you. This CAFÉ offers European & Continental and Goan cuisines, but the best and fishiest of it. The TEAM shares a deep love for seafood, having lived along the coast most of their lives. Wait till you hear about the food and décor!
The café has yellow-walled interiors, lending it a bright and cheerful air. Their walls are adorned with caricatures by different artists, including Mario Miranda of course!. Some interesting quotes also occupy the wall to interest, hungry persons, lest their company isn’t in the mood to chit-chat. The table is laid out well, and a most interesting thing to note is it includes a bottle of sanitizer along with the salt, pepper and sauce bottles. They also provide the Komin Mineral bottled water from the Sahyadris.
Their best dishes include the Fish Kebabs and Barbeque Jerk Chicken in starters, and the Grilled Pomfret with Spinach Sauce, Barbequed Lamb Chops and the Parma Chicken in the main course. They are the most liked and ordered dishes too. But the TEAM had a lovely fish main course to recommend to us – the Herb Crushed Grilled Fish, it’s a SIZZLER and it was served with lemon, butter, and parsley sauce. A generous portion of Kingfish, this dish was a delight to savour.
But the highlight of the whole meal was a prawn dish which was quite unlike anything else I had tasted. ‘Honey Mustard Prawns’ was served coupled with the authentic Italian Risotto, but what a mind-blowing taste it was! The honey mustard sauce enriched the entire dish. Dessert was the old love – Sizzling Chocolate Walnut Brownie with Chocolate sauce and Vanilla ice-cream. Considering they make their own brownies, the dessert felt warm and fresh to have.
The café is a part of a big complex with sufficient parking space at the back. On our way out we glanced at the LIVE KITCHEN which is the first of its kind, a MODULAR KITCHEN with COMMERCIAL RANGE fitted beautifully – its neatness and systematic arrangement made us like the place all the more. For those stopping by the café after a long drive, fear not. The washroom outside is spacious and clean. The café boasts of a good music collection playing at the background at just the right volume to put you in a good mood but not disturb your conversation. The neatly dressed staff add to the positive vibe of this café, so you definitely want to visit this one.
The Goan Fish Café will soon be providing service into the wee hours of the night. For late-night supper, they will be providing the original and authentic HYDERABADI BIRYANI (Chicken / Lamb), BEER and WINE too as the license procurement is underway. It is planned to cater to the huge late-night crowd cruising through the capital city and highways. And how do they plan to widen its base further?
Well here is a piece of superb news for all Goans – the food delivery services and apps of Zomato, Swiggy is finally here in our little vibrant state! These apps are going to be launched from November onwards, so the Goan Fish Café has already partnered with them for a door to door delivery within a 6-kilometre radius – this would cover the areas from Panjim to Porvorim. So if you have a house party or a weekend get together planned at your home or farmhouse, you can save the extra trouble of going all the way till the café and just order online.
The many years of experience in the hospitality industry have led to the TEAM bringing an interesting, happy and tasty café for the Goans who love to dine with style in a classy place done tastefully. They have not mixed up their menu, sticking to just European, Continental & Goan food, except the late-night Authentic Hyderabadi Dum Biryani they, plan to start. The Goan Fish Café should definitely be on your list of restaurant marathon for this month!
