India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (115 page)

Cavelossim, Mobor, Goa 403 731.
0832/287-1234.
Fax 0832/287-1352.
www.theleela.com
. 186 units. High season Rs 23,000, pavilion double, Rs 27,000 conservatory premiere double, Rs 40,000 lagoon suite, Rs 45,000 lagoon deluxe suite, Rs 53,000 Club suite, Rs 65,000 Club pool suite, Rs 100,000 Royal Villa, Rs 135,000 presidential suite; low season Rs 11,000 Pavilion double, Rs 14,000 conservatory premiere double, Rs 20,000 lagoon suite, Rs 25,000 lagoon deluxe suite, Rs 30,000 Club suite, Rs 40,000 Club pool suite, Rs 50,000 Royal Villa, Rs 100,000 presidential suite. Rates include breakfast, airport transfer by coach; 10% tax extra. Club, Royal Villa and presidential suite rates include butler service, laundry, airport transfers, minibar, and in-room high tea. Rates much higher Dec 28–Jan 3. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
4 restaurants; including
Susegado (see review), 2 bars, nightclub, lounge; free airport transfers (by coach; otherwise Rs 4,200); babysitting; bicycles; boating; casino; children’s activity center; club wing w/private restaurant, pool, and beach restaurant-bar; croquet; 12-hole golf course; health club and spa; large outdoor swimming pool and children’s pool; room service; 3 floodlit tennis courts; watersports; yoga and meditation. In room: A/C, TV/DVD, CD (in most), hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (Rs 150/hr.; Rs 900/day)

Taj Exotica Goa
This resort features lovely surroundings (23 hectares/56 acres of landscaped gardens with 36 varieties of hibiscus trees), nicely appointed accommodations, warm service, and a kick-ass beach that might just as well be private. Even the cheapest “deluxe” guest rooms are spacious, with large picture windows and private patios or balconies. Ask for one on the ground floor—these are accessed via their own garden areas. The private villas are ideal if you don’t want to be in the main block, which looks something like a large Portuguese hacienda—specify a sea-facing room for a decent view (cheaper villas look onto the garden). The gorgeous sunset pool villas have private plunge pools—plus, the main pool is large and inviting.

Calwaddo, Benaulim, Salcete, Goa 403 716.
0832/277-1234.
Fax 0832/277-1515.
www.tajhotels.com
. [email protected]. 140 units. Rs 18,500–Rs 35,500 garden villa room double, Rs 20,500–Rs 37,500 deluxe sea view double, Rs 24,700–Rs 40,500 sea view villa, Rs 25,700–Rs 42,500 luxury double, Rs 28,400–Rs 50,500 pool villas, Rs 44,600–Rs 67,500 luxury suite, Rs 113,000–Rs 144,500 presidential villa. Christmas and New Year stays attract compulsory additional costs for special meals. AE, MC, V.
Amenities:
5 restaurants; lounge; bar; free airport transfers; archery; babysitting; badminton; beach volleyball; bicycles; children’s activity center; clay pigeon shooting; concierge; 9-hole golf course (pitch and putt); health club and Ayurvedic spa w/yoga and aerobics; helipad; jogging track; large outdoor pool w/Jacuzzi and children’s pool; pool tables; room service; 2 tennis courts; table tennis; watersports. In room: A/C, TV, DVD (in some), hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (Rs 224/hr.; Rs 673/day).

WHERE TO DINE

Another downside of staying at the resorts—besides being totally cut off from the world you’ve come to visit—is that you’ll invariably be dining in-house. Not necessarily a bad thing, only you’ll miss some of the alternative culinary diversions on offer. So, if you are holed up at one of the big luxury pads, make a point of leaving the compound at least once in order to savor a meal that’s more down-home, perhaps, but more than likely a better match for authenticity.

MAJORDA, UTORDA & BETALBATIM

A little south of Majorda is the tiny stretch of sand known colloquially as “Sunset Beach,” but officially called Betalbatim. The little village is probably best known for its famous beachside restaurant,
Martin’s Corner
(Binvado, Betalbatim;
0832/288-0061
or -0413; daily 11am–3:30pm and
6:30–11pm), where Martin Pereira’s widow, Carafina, runs the kitchen with an iron fist. She began cooking wonderful dishes for this family restaurant back in 1994, when it opened with only two tables. Now Martin’s sons operate a successful and extremely popular courtyard establishment, surrounded by mango, coconut, and jackfruit groves. Order snapper
recheado,
butter-garlic prawns, or pomfret
caldin
made with a coconut milk curry. Carafina makes a mean homemade masala, prepared according to a secret family recipe with fresh Goan spices. After dark, things can hot up as popular bands really liven things up.

Zeebop by the Sea
[moment]GOAN/SEAFOOD Midway between the Hyatt and Kenilworth resorts, and an easy bicycle ride from Vivenda do Palhaços, this is perhaps the best beach shack-style restaurant in Goa, although there’s no shack, and the crowd tends to be a good mix of savvy locals and tourists. White wooden tables are set among dugout canoes and huge cart wheels scattered across a large patch of flat sandy dune overlooking the water, a short distance away. Waiters in orange tropical shirts and black slacks scamper between the tables, serving up locally caught seafood like rock fish, zebra shark steak (try this grilled with garlic butter), silver pomfret, sea bass, red snapper, or whatever the fishermen have landed today. If you want to add a little zing to your fish, ask for it to be prepared with
recheado
spices. Lobster, peri-peri prawns, and a blow-out seafood platter are also available. The food doesn’t look like much on the plate, but somehow the chef coaxes very special flavors out of the meat and every morsel is melt-in-the-mouth succulent. As with any beach venue in Goa, get here before sunset and feast your eyes on the horizon, best accompanied by a supply of ice-cold beers. Avoid the “coffee.”

Near Kenilworth Beach Resort, Utorda.
0832/275-5333
or 982-215-4541. Main courses Rs 90–Rs 180. MC, V. Daily 9am–11pm. Closed late May to Aug.

Benaulim, Varca & Cavelossim

You can probably forgive yourself for choosing to sample at least one of the near-legendary eateries at the Taj Exotica.
Alegria
(daily 12:30–2:30pm and 7:30–10:30pm) is where the most delicious home-cooked Goan, Portuguese, and Hindu Goan Saraswat meals are prepared. Mainstay dishes include
arroz de chorizo
(traditional Goan
pulao
of locally made spice pork sausages),
sungtache koddi
(prawns in a fragrant gravy of coconut milk and mild spices),
sungtache peri-peri
(pan-fried farm-fresh prawn marinated with red chili and toddy vinegar), and
kombdiche xacutti
(succulent chicken morsels simmered in a blend of roasted spices with coconut).
Upstairs,
Miguel Arcanjo
(same hours) makes some of the best pizzas in Goa. And that’s not all—for starters try the shrimp glazed with honey and garlic or the Lebanese
mezze
accompanied by
horiatiki
salad, followed by delicious double lamb chops or duck roasted with dry cherry sauce. Even the oven-baked snapper is irresistible. Finally, but most atmospherically,
Lobster Shack
(daily 7:30–11pm; dismantled during off season) enjoys a rather romantic setting by the sea, right on Benaulim Beach, where the venue does a good-spirited job of emulating a typical Goan beach shack, albeit with an upmarket buzz. With the crash of waves and polite band setting the ambience, choose your fish from the display and watch as it’s prepared in the open kitchen. Even better than Lobster Shack, though, is The Leela’s superb
Susegado,
reviewed below.