Thanks Fritz for your report

Thanks Fritz,

Just back myself and have a few things to say.

As soon as I get my head straight will post.

Thanks for your honesty.

Papa

interesting report Fritz
Chilly

Welcome home Fritz (then again whoever wants to come back..)
Can you post where the following are (we know Candolim very well)
Tom & Nickys Haven
Saidutt Cafe
Cheers.
P.S I think the green paste they coat the kebabs is called Cillantro, same family has Corriander ? with a few other spices and chillies added

Goa - sort the rubbish out!!!!!!

You're dead right, Fritz. I'm used to ignoring the piles of litter and trash all over the place but it really is getting out of hand in some areas. I think most Indians just throw waste/wrappings/trash on the street and as Goa gets more crowded, and with more Indian tourists, the litter and filth is just getting to be a bigger problem.

You see signs saying, "Keep Goa Green" and "Keep Goa Beautiful" but I think the locals think that by putting up signs, they're solving the problem. It needs a massive educational initiative to make people aware of the problem and the potential for illness and disease.

I thought of having a "Tidy Up" day where people would clean up their local area but I'm not brave (or stupid?) enough to suggest it.

Hi all

I will add somemore detail later but I'm trying to catch up with everything so its all bit hectic.

Tom & Nickys is next door to the orangerie. If you stand looking into the orangerie its to the right - blue and white hoardings.

Saidutt Cafe is opposite Ice N Spice (Nerul Road) - local cafe. tbh I'd never have dared try it but I was on the beach one morning with the shack boys and we shared a breakfast that they later told me they'd bought from the Saidutt. Well it was fantastic so now I'm sold on the place. If you want something truly local you must try it. The samosa's where the best

Fritz

Hi Fritz
I was on the same inbound flight as you, sat quite close to your lovely young lad.

I wondered if you had checked-in very late and that was why you were didn't get seats together in a row. That would have been much better for your boy to sleep.

We always make sure we get to airports early to get seats together.

I think UK airports make an effort to sit families together but foreign ones don't seem to bother so much.

Talking of Russians I found those that could speak english to be mostly very nice. There is obvioulsy a big language barrier there so I think a lot of the rudness might be somewhat mis-understood.

I agree with this. We've met some really polite Russians in shacks & restaurants.
I also think that their language being quite gutteral and the fact that a lot of Russians tend to speak quite loudly can make them sound quite agressive when maybe they aren't really.
Of course, there's no excuse for those people who push in on queues.

Floyds - Candolim (food good but one particular waiter is about as rude as they come)

It must be the same guy we had serving us.

Well we got to the airport at about 9.30 so 2 1/2 hours before, which is usually plenty of time but I've never got this noon flight before. Previously we've either got the early Friday morning Monarch flight or else the late night Thomson one home.

So yes I think with hindsight we should have got there earlier although there wwas a good 100 people behind us at check in. Also when we realised there was a problem we asked for a 2 and a 1 so we could take it in shifts to looo ater Lou but they refused saying that they had already allocated the seats.

Talking of flights our outbound flight was on the 23rd Feb. It was delayed/ cancelled/ then reinstated. Fortunatley I'd booked us into the Lingfield Lounge at Gatwick so the delay was no big deal really. Now I'm not sure if it was because they cancelled the flight at one point or just because they hadn;t sold many seats but the flight out was virtually empty. If I can work out how to upload a photo I have one of the plane just before the doors closed - its kind of spooky.

It doesn't sound like you got to the aiport too late if there were over a quarter of the passengers still to check in behind you, especially as Monarch don't allow people to prebook specific seats.

I could understand you not getting seats together if you had been the very last ones to check in.

I don't think they pre-allocate seats.
We asked for (and got) 2 aisle seats in the middle section one behind the other, but we were at the airport at 8am and had to wait 15 or so minutes for them to decide to open the hold luggage X-ray machine.

I wonder if each check-in desk has a certain number of seats to allocate and the particular one you went to just didn't have 3 seats together.

Hope your lad was OK on Monday, he told me he was going back to school.

Did the person sat next to your little boy not offer to swap seats with you? What is the matter with people these days?

Roxey no but tbh I was more concerned at my son disturbing them, not being sat next to us wouldn't really phase him as long as there's someone to play with. I could reach out and hold his hand anyway, just would obvioulsy have been better if we could have all sat together. Anyway the lady next to him was very nice and more than happy to entertain him as she had a grandson the same age who she had dearly missed whilst away.

Also in the places I can recommend I forgot the Hungry Horse - Calangute. The wife had a roast (chicken); I had Malai Kofta & chicken biriyani; and I think our son had fried egg beans & chips. All very good and cheap as chips (about Rps 800 with drinks).

Some more details (sorry its all a bit hit and miss but I'm writing as I remember it).

On the way out we had a big delay (I think about 5 hours) but fortunately I had booked us into the Lingfield Lounge at Gatwick so we sat there throughout. You're supposed to get 3 hours max but when we were delayed the staff just said sit tight until you know whats happening. This is agreat lounge. Quiet, Sky tv, complimentary snacks & drinks (inc alcoholic), and a good view over the run an taxi ways - all for £ 16 per head. I'm never going out of Gatwick again without booking it.

Now more food detail (I love eating):

Bistro - Mushroom starter & then Steak for the wife; Bruschetta starter for me then chicken breast on bubble with red onion gravy; chicken nuggets chips & beans for my son although the chicken nuggest were more like sweet & sour chicken balls without the sweet n sour sauce. 3 big beers for me; 3 romanov & sprite for the wife; diet coke for my son. All was all very good good and all for Rps 1800.

Tom & Nickeys - we ate here the most frequently. The tandoor is exceptional - espacially try the fish tikka; chicken tikka; Murgh Malai kebab. Also had King Fish butter garlic with boiled veg here - very good. Malai Kofta also very good with an aloo paratha, naan, or chapati. The chicken biriyani is ok but nothing like as good as the rest of the menu (sorry Nicky but its true). Cheese balls are also nice. Bills typically Rps 1500 with drinks.

The Stone House - Only ate here once this year, which was a shame. I had chicken xacuti, jera rice & garlic cheese naan. The wife had murgh malai kebab & chicken tikka & naan. My son had spaghetti bolognese. Great night with some good music and good friends. About Rps1200 with drinks.

Rising Waves - I'm ashamed to say I can't remember what i ate or what I paid because of a strange reaction to Honey Bee - it made me all dizzy and slur my words - it must be an allergy . BUT I do remember it was good. My wifes says it was next best to the Bistro.

The Sunset Bar - eat anything you want here it is all good but the Dal Tadka with a garlic cheese naan is not to be missed. Also the chicken chilly fry & potato skins which are nothing like potato skins in the uk.Typical bill for the three of us all day brekky/ lunch/ drinks 11.00 a.m. through until 6.00p.m. was Rps1200. The huts here arevery good, we stayed one night, but they are expensive by Goan standards (Rps 1000). Taxi from Candolim should cost you Rps 300 each way - cheapest we could negiotiate was Rps 600.

Saidutt Cafe - Ate here by accident at first as I was on the beach withthe shack boys sharing their breakfast. Samosa, puri with a cold green non meat curry (I think it was chick pea or lentil), goan bread with assorted pickles and things - oh and chips which wasn;t very goan at all. Really, really good. Be brave give it a go. Nothing costs more than about Rps 50.

Chicken Sharwana Kebabs (Night Market) - Rps 200 a pop. I think these are my most favorite food in Goa. I had two on the last night and bought a third for the plane home the next day. I'm not totally sure what the ingredients are but I'm guessing the chicken is marinaded in garlic; yoghurt; cardomom; cinnamon; and maybe a little cumin. They're served in a pitta with a bit of salad - lettuce, tomato, & cabbage (i think) and dressed with a tahini sauce. If you want it hot then they spread a green paste on the inside of the pitta which is kind of pesto - ish but as spike said it could well have coriander instead of basil & also tastes a little minty and of course a little spicey.

Bob Marley Shack - Goan chicken/ chicken biriyani/ golden fry prawn all very good - infact anything there is good and typical of the beach shacks it does everything from eggs on toast to goan chilly sausages. Typical bill for the three of us all day brekky & lunch inc. drinks Rps 1200.

forgot to mention IceN spice previously. They have a much smaller menu this year which when I asked they said I could order what I wanted they'd get it but that's not really an answer. No tandoor either BUT the steak was by far the best steak I had in goa this year.

A word about the Nerul river. Now we have always been told that there are no crocodiles in the Nerul. Each year we go crabbing in the Nerul, travel about 20 mins upstream by boat and lay the pots. We've often got stuck and had to jump out and push the boat free of the mud. We've also fished this river many times sometimes wading out to knee depth but not anymore. If you travel up the Nerul there is a restaurant/ bar on the right bank called the Spice Garden. Just after this bar we saw a huge crocodile basking on the bank so be warned they are there. If you check out my media I've uploaded a photo there.

Funniest moped seen - two up where the fella on the back had three sets of double glazing in his hands OR could have been coming back from Mapusa, two blokes trying to get a live sheep on the back of their ped.

Funniest thing seen on the beach - the boys from Kingfisher shack chasing the "tax" man up the beach the day after the elections finished. They were then chased up the beach to Calangute by each shack in turn. Seems a change of Government means a change in the person you have to pay your bakshish to.

Anyway that's it for now, work calls.

fritz

hilarious Fritz just looved that about the taxman
great report by the way
Chilly

Surprised about your comments about Arambol, we love it there and often stay over. Loved your great reports on the restaurants though, still so many to try even after all these years, one of the reasons we keep going back.

we love Arambol too Brenliz especially sweet water lake... had some good days out there with various HT'ers
Chilly

Yes I was probably a bit harsh about Arambol.

The beach & lake I can deal with, in fact I'll admit I almost quite like that side. It's the village that I really can't stand. Too many "Wandering Aimlessleys" with the "Thousand Yard" stares and it just seems to me especially grubby & grimy, far more so than the rest of that stretch of coast. Whats the state of the river all about?

I'm a real foodie and I have yet to find anywhere in the village that hasn't made me ill. I'm happy to accept recommendations though.

Fritz, have you tried Double Dutch in Arambol , IMHO it is superb

Shirley I haven't but I will do so

They were then chased up the beach to Calangute by each shack in turn. Seems a change of Government means a change in the person you have to pay your bakshish to.

Love it - would like to have seen that!

It would never happen in Britain - far too civilised. You just bung them £250,000 and they sort it out for you...............oops......

Goa - sort the rubbish out!!!!!!

We found the streets in Kolkata cleaner than Goa.....