Restaurant “Nau do Restelo” (est. 1985), located near the Belém Cultural Center, serves traditional Goan specialties from “Suquém” to “Cheque Cheque”, and of course, the best Chamuças I’ve tried so far. Liliana and André, the owners, always help me in the difficult but exciting task of choosing my favorite dish. Usually I go for “Sarapatel”, one of the hottest and spiciest of all, but the “Chacuti” or the “Balchão” are also great choices… Welcome to the Goan cuisine, probably the best fusion cuisine of the world.
Goa, located in West India, is the smallest state but also the richest of India and was a former colony of Portugal. Goan cuisine is famous for its variety of fish dishes cooked with elaborate recipes. This exotic fusion cuisine blends and mixes the Portuguese products with the Goan ones, adding spices and giving birth to the first fusion world cuisine, from the XVI century. One of the dishes was invented centuries ago and is known as Vindaloo – the name is derived from the Portuguese term for Wine and Garlic (vinho e alho) and marinade (port, Vinha d’alho), a popular seasoning worldwide.
There are a lot of different and exotic spices and products to take home, as the place also offers take away: Cardamom, Curcumin, Tamarind, Chilli and others. You can also buy one of the special ready-to-cook powder “Quinhentos”.
If you hear some bluegrass… you’re in the right place. I founded the Stonebones & Bad Spaghetti with André and played with them until 2014. 😉
