If you have exotic taste, Palolem is your best bet. Don't miss the tasty Goan fish-curry rice that comes with its finger-licking curry and (usually small) fish. Make it a point to be at the beach post-lunch, when the fishing boats come in and the catch is hauled out of the water. The sight of the fat jumbo prawns, plump cuttle fish and mackerel will leave you waiting impatiently for your dinner.
Coastal beach shacks like Simba's and Boom Shankar in Palolem are the best bets for fish curry and other seafood like masala stuffed crabs. Dilip Gaitonde's Palolem Beach Resort, bang on Canacona Beach, offers a range of different cuisines. Goan dishes are the favourites. Others in Palolem Beach itself include Draupadi (Tel: 09326127437, 09322685138) which serves Continental, Italian and Goan food, including speciality spaghetti, lasagne and lobsters. At Palolem Beach Resort, eat at a table overlooking the beach or watch football on TV as you tuck into mackarel recheado and tandoori fish. German Bakery (Tel: 2643251), serving health food, German cakes, apple pies, strudels, six-grain bread, tofu burgers and tofu butter masala, also has a bar and Goan restaurant. The Bakery is in Xitto and is open from September to January.
Blue Planet near Posro on the beach road in Palolem serves fresh juices, soya bread, brown bread, tofu, soya milk shakes, salads and Indian food. We recommend the veg mix salad with different dressings, hummus and baba ghanoush. Blue Planet is seasonal, open only between mid-October and mid-April.

Ahaar Restaurant at Bhakti Kutir serves health-organic food and seafood, mainly veg, packaged for the health-conscious nature-lover and eco-nut. In Agonda, the restaurant at Hotel Sunset serves great fish curry, steak and vindaloo.
Also in Palolem are Sameer Bar and Restaurant (seafood, Indian, Italian), Silver Star (fish tandoori, sizzlers, beef steak), Ciaran's Camp (pre-booked three-course dinner available), and Cool Breeze (food from around the world).
Canacona shuts down in Lent (March-April) and stays shut through the monsoon. All the shack- and dolphin canoe-owners seem to disappear into the smoky hills of Sanguem for the duration, in an annual ritual of virtual hibernation. And here we too must bid adieu. See you again some time soon, across the border from Canacona, in Karnataka!