At #35 on the list is Hosa. In Siolim, one of Goa’s prettiest Indo-Portuguese bungalows has been transformed into Hosa, its powder-blue façade and leafy patio pulling you in before you’ve even glanced at the menu. Inside, high ceilings, graphic tiles, and a bar lined with tinctures and infusions set the stage for a restaurant that puts the cooking of southern India in sharp focus. Chef Harish Rao leads the kitchen with a 38-dish menu that roams across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Think curry leaf-cured snapper doused in kokum rasa, edamame paniyarams, almonds dressed up in the style of chicken 65, and crab tangled with Guntur chilli. The dishes are precise but not precious, rooted in memory while borrowing the technique and polish of a global kitchen. The drinks are no less ambitious. Beverage director Varun Sharma, also behind the bars at Comorin and Indian Accent, builds a program that veers from playful to serious: rum and kokum cola fizzing with housemade soda, mango gin cocktails rimmed with gunpowder spice, even a shandy dispensed from an on-table contraption. Non-alcoholic spirits and zero-proof “gin-ish” cocktails get their own section, acknowledging the new ways Goa likes to drink. For Siolim, Hosa has quickly become the kind of place you dress up for. For the rest of us, it’s proof of just how expansive and varied South Indian food can be when treated with curiosity and respect.
For the Record – Vinyl Bar, Goa
At #38 on the list, For the Record (locals call it FTR) doesn’t feel like a bar so much as stepping into the home of a friend who happens to collect vinyls, bake sourdough, build his own speakers, and play jazz on the side. That friend is Buland Shukla, architect, audio engineer, musician, and the force behind this Panjim spot where cocktails, food, and music fold into each other. A bimbli tree shades the entrance, neighbourhood dogs wander in, and inside, records line the shelves while a gramophone spins jazz and blues. The cocktail list is short but inventive, anchored in local spirits: think solkadi-spiced feni, gin hit with chilli oil and cardamom bitters, or hibiscus tea mixed with mahua. Food plays with ferments too: wings lacquered in house hot sauce, a tongue salad with bite, pides and pizzas when you need heft. Most nights, you’re as likely to find a vinyl listening session as a swing evening or a set by Shukla’s own Banjara Quartet. It’s not a slick concept bar, it’s more personal than that, an atmosphere you ease into, like dropping the needle on a favourite record.
The ASSA House, Goa
English