Where to eat and drink this May... in Goa

In Goa, nothing looks like what it is anymore. Among this month’s new openings is a cocktail bar going undercover at a new hotel, a roving food truck that drops its new location every week, and a feni bar that will take you back in time. Soon to open is a reservation-only bar and tasting room (more details on Trieze later) where you can expect good drinks and crafted cocktails but absolutely no food.

Below, our pick of seasonal mango cocktails, new summer menus, and the buzziest new food and drink openings in Goa this May.

New openings

The Feni House & Taberna, Anjuna

Three years ago, Sudeip Nair started playing with feni and urrak, sourcing different varieties from farms across Goa and using them in infusions. Thus was birthed Gracias Carlos, a small-batch indigenous spirits project, starting with feni and urrak. The ultimate aim was to present feni as something contemporary without losing its cultural memory. Today, Nair’s lab boasts 24 infusions, including guava chilli, pineapple, and banana-infused feni. All of these infusions (and the resulting cocktails made from them) are on offer at his new venture, The Feni House & Taberna, in a very touristy street in Anjuna. Unlike new, touristy places, this one has the casual vibe of an old-school taverna, and a small WIP performance space that opens to a terrace. As a guest, you will be shown his lab, served tasters of some infusions (be sure to ask for the blueberry and orange versions), and given a cocktail according to your infusion of choice. Non-feni drinkers have freshly brewed beer courtesy Arpora’s Lizard King. Expect highly sippable, smooth drinks that can go down well with meaty Goan fare put together by Nair’s friend and now chef Dean D'Souza, who impressed us with a plate of homely beef in green curry and a portion of beef kheema served with smoked choris.

Las Hermanas, in and around Panjim 

Just when you thought you had seen it all, along comes a moving food truck bringing two worlds and two distinct flavour profiles on four wheels. The Goan-Mexican food truck carries “the spirit of Goa wrapped in a familiar, accessible taco form”. So, of course, there are a tacos stuffed with chicken vindaloo, with chicken cafreal, and even prawn balchao. But what you probably didn’t expect is their versions of sala, made from strawberries, mango or pineapple, or the churros that come with a coconut jaggery caramel sauce. Every week, the Las Hermanas truck changes location, revealing it exclusively on Instagram, and bringing with it the thrill of a food hunt. Beyond the food, there is coconut water and horchata—a Mexican rice drink spiced with cinnamon, which may remind you of its almond-based Goan counterpart.

Third Table, Porvorim

Like Gen Z’s favourite hangout, Anjali Gupta’s Third Table calls itself a ‘third space’ that isn’t a workplace or the home but something in between. This is possibly the only place offering a build-your-own breakfast board. Avocado and skillet cookie together? Why not. The food spans the range from pineapple pizzas to Turkish eggs. Since it’s mango season, there’s even a menu filled with picks like avocado mango tartine, raw mango hummus, and mango matcha, among other fruit treats. The cafe has a dessert bar, and its coffee mostly comes from Chikkamagaluru and other estates.

Riot Coffee, Nachinola

Shree Ganesh Restaurant in Nachinola is known for its Goan and Chinese fare. These days, it has a new sub-identity. Riot Coffee is a coffee-first cosy spot operating out of the restaurant. The cafe is inspired by the roadside cafes of southeast Asia and the vibe of a local Goan bar. But here, they invite you to get social over coffee instead of alcohol. Tushaar Mehra and Isha Ashta’s Riot does specialty coffee, best sampled through signatures like Dirty Coffee and Coconut Espresso Cloud. By the side are baked goods, like their chocolate chunk cookies and peanut butter cookies, with a chocolate ganache making guest appearances.

Aami Café & Bistro, Candolim

Across Goa, spaces don’t always conform to just one identity but occupy a larger ecosystem. Case in point is Aami, an all-day-dining cafe created by Sudhir and Rohit Lobo. It is part of a restored Goan home and a series of bed-and-breakfast stays in Candolim. Aami’s meals are rooted in comfort, with Asian flavours and picks like podi calamari rings, chilli lime prawns, massaman curry bowl, and Aami ‘croissanwich’. Beverages follow the same code, with signatures such as guava chilli Martini and a virgin Cosmopolitan. The coffee programme is a collaboration with Toise, and there’s gelato by Goa's favourite scoop shop Cream Choc.

Mini Bar, The Passport Hotel, Assagao

Entrepreneur Ashesh L Sajnani’s Passport Hotel calls itself ‘India’s first cocktail-forward traveller’s hotel’. While the rooms are worth the buck, the boutique stay pushes drinks (and bonding over them) to the fore through their many spaces, cocktail workshops, and curated tastings. The hotel’s lobby bar, Mini Bar, is where it all ties together. Open to guests and people not staying here, the cocktail programme has Indian flavours, tropical produce, some fermentation, and a distinctive coastal touch. Repping the state is the local spirit, feni—in a green chilli and thecha Highball with house-fermented pineapple tepache liqueur, and kokum—with hibiscus-infused vermouth and tequila. Expect little surprises, such as Monaco biscuits, lemon curd with crushed butter cookie dust, and candied muskmelon, with the drinks. There’s even a zero-proof menu and snackable bar bites to round off the experience.

Lazlo, Anjuna

Lazlo is the newest cocktail bar to add to Goa’s bountiful beverage options. The warm, intimate space opens every evening and is built to look like an old-school bar with dark wood tones, dim lights, and deep red upholstery. The style is earthy, rich, and moody. Lazlo’s cocktail programme takes inspiration from a deck of cards and is divided into four parts, with each deck offering a different mood: Spades is theatrical, Hearts has depth, Diamonds offers contrasts, and Clubs spells spark and fizz.

New menus

Grumps, Sangolda

Grumps completed two successful years in Goa, and for their first shake-up since, they bring forth a new menu that is built around bold Asian flavours but presented in a playful way. Expect Asian ingredients and condiments across—a touch of Sichuan peppercorn, some miso, nam-jim, gochugaru, and XO sauce. The drinks menu is new (they have redesigned it as a Snakes and Ladders board), but the drinks are the same—all named after popular songs (Smack That has been our favourite from the very beginning). If the menu seems a tad intimidating to order, just roll a dice and let it decide if you need a salty dashi foam-topped whisky Highball or a Dirty Martini with guava brine and blue cheese.

The Second House, Saligao

The best thing on the menu at The Second House, from the day it opened in 2023, has been PT& G, short for Peanut, Tomato and Granola. It’s an absurd-sounding dish, but you know from the first bite that it is an absolute banger. So, when Jyoti Singh, the outstanding chef behind the restaurant, was planning his new summer menu, he knew some dishes would remain as is. New on his menu is a parade of strikingly composed sharing plates, of which the oysters will definitely land on your IG feed. The dish comes on a plate of crushed ice, with the freshest oysters served with some lime and a pinch of kokum that goes a long way. Other nods to Goa include Coco Feni, a clarified feni cocktail that even finicky tipplers will find hard to resist, and Welcome Home, a tequila cocktail with a kokum-tinged foam that you will want to sip all night. There’s plenty more: butter-fried mussels that you can polish off with the chef’s signature laffa bread, a butternut squash dish served in the gourd’s casing, and a delicious full chonak that you’d find hard to share. —Megha Mahindru

Hosa, Siolim

At Hosa in Goa, the summer menu highlights curd, melon, grapes, and palm fruit, all chosen for their freshness in the heat. Chef Harish Rao’s menu is inspired by traditional south Indian summer dishes, focusing on cooling, lightly spiced recipes with a modern touch. The meal starts with Puducherry-style thairu vada—soft lentil vadas in chilled curd served with ginger chutney and spiced boondi. Another dish has green grapes with drakshi gojju and creamy sago yoghurt. A watermelon chicken curry blends the red fruit’s sweetness with mint and a mild chilli spice. Ice apple prawn curry, served with delicate idiyappam, bears a clear Goan influence. —Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Maverick & Farmer, Anjuna

Maverick & Farmer’s new summer beverage menu features plenty of cold brew, with lighter fruit-based and matcha-infused refreshers. The Cloudburst has cold brew with orange zest and ginger foam; The Kalimotxo offers a darker, fruit-forward profile; and The Zero features espresso and almond without added sugar. The Matcha Aam Panna returns and brings with it a Matcha Malai with tender coconut flavours. A Maverick & Farmer favourite, the tender coconut cold brew, persists. Available until early June. —Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi