Vengurla is the seafood lover's paradise. The cuisine is typical of this region and spicy. Whether you order bangda, prawns, crabs or any other fish, depending on the season, it's always the fresh catch of the day. Vade sagote is the chicken speciality of the region. Vade is a thick puri while sagote is pieces of chicken dunked in a spicy gravy. Accompanied by vatis of sol kadi, the nectar of Konkan, it's a meal by itself.

Vegetarian fare pales in comparison and comprises the usual suspects dal-bhat-bhaji, though the advent of summer does add variety for the veggie palate. Vengurla is the land of cashew and mangoes and during season, almost all dishes have a dash of these two as ingredients. While a bhaji is prepared out of tender green cashews and added to amti, a kind of dal, mangoes are used in a myriad ways from pickles to a sweet dish called ambavadi.

There are no real restaurants worth the name except Bamboo Inn on the road to Sagareshwar Beach, about 11/2 km from the ST Bus Stand. This bar and restaurant serves excellent seafood, passable Chinese and okay vegetarian fare. The alternative is the PWD Sagar Guest House or the hole-in-the-wall type of eateries in the busy market near the bus stand. The thali at the guest house is value for money, especially with the panoramic views thrown in, but place your order two hours in advance.

There isn't much to choose from the nondescript eating places in the market, all serving generous portions in their basic fish curry, rice and chappati-type of meals. Even if you don?t live like a king you can surely eat like one in Vengurla!