South Indian food has not tasted better than this. Hosa, Goa, checks all the boxes — dishes that are flavour bombs, house made sodas that quench your thirst, cocktails that want you to spend Sundays here, and art on the walls that will make you want to get up from your seat and browse.
Siolim is a neighbourhood I rarely drive to. There is the rest of North Goa and then, there is Siolim. Sure, it is an artsy neighbourhood, home to 21st-century hippies with their new-age spiritual tropes. Sure, it also has that other Goan party icon, Thalassa, the hang-out space largely for Delhi partygoers.
But here is a restaurant that believes in the concept of slow dining, live music, and great views… You get the drift. It will perfectly fit in with the Panjim, Assagao, or even South Goa vibe, which now showcases restaurants serving innovative modern cuisines.
And yet, one of the finest openings of 2022, Hosa Goa has chosen Siolim as its home. On a balmy evening, I drive down to Siolim with a friend to experience the new take on cuisine from the south of India.
Hosa, Goa sits in a 101-year-old mansion
The lovely 101-year-old Goan home, lovingly restored by Ashley Mascarenhas — complete with a patio and an al fresco space that nudges Chapora river and looks out at St Anthony church—is an ideal home for Hosa, a restaurant that focuses on art, slow dining, and great flavours. Red Mangalore tile roofs, skylights, white walls, wooden slats on the ceilings with shadows of the tall palm leaves when daylight streams in, patterned floors, doors with glass panes that offer a view of the sleepy street outside — everything is so quintessentially Goa.
But there is more to the space that houses Hosa than Goan architectural features. For one, there is art on the walls by an older generation of artists, also younger, undiscovered artists, from across South India. Striking Gothic chandeliers illuminate the 14ft bar with shelves embedded on the sides of the walls.
“It is the location context of the church that made me add these metal lights which highlight the ceiling,” says restaurateur Rohit Khattar, Chairman, EVH International and Old World Hospitality, the man backing restaurants such as Indian Accent in Delhi and New York, Comorin in Gurgaon, and Koloman in New York. He roped in Sharan Apparao, founder of Apparao Galleries, to curate the art.
A Thota Vaikuntam here, an overwhelming Balagopalan sculpture there, two Prince Dinakaran portraits, a satirical set of images by Shinoj Choran, Dhasan D.’s intricate origami work…. Six different rooms, including a private dining space, work as canvases for the art.
Says Khattar, “I wanted to honour the south and the meaning of Hosa which is ‘new’ in Kannada. We had planned to have a single Art Room, but the work was so diverse and exciting that it spilt-out and found space across the restaurant.”
Hosa, Goa’s Modern Indian cuisine from the south
But for me, it is the food that holds centre stage. Chef Suresh D.C, who travelled extensively across the south of India, has crafted a menu that eschews or avoids all tropes of food from the south. You won’t find any idli, dosa, or uttapam on the menu, and no apologies are offered for that, thankfully. His ‘traditional recipes with a twist’ are small bursts of flavours.
- Plantain Pepper Roast is, as expected, crispy and peppery, with a satisfying crunch to it. Wild Mushroom Sukka, his take on traditional Sukka dishes with a masala of green chillies, dry masalas and caramelised, leaves a lovely zing in the mouth.
- Deep-fried Lamb Kola Urundai disintegrates in the mouth into a meaty, masala-filled flavour bomb.
- Banana Blossoms are delicacies, and you need to put in hours of work to clean them up. The Hosa team of chefs, led by chef Suresh, converts them into cutlets, served with sweet-spicy chilli jam and sweet pickled onions.
- Vada Kari — inspired by chef Suresh’s mother, who made a dish out of leftover vadas — is, in Hosa, a simple dish of massive flavours: Masala-coated peanut and preserved lime served on Akki roti roundels.
There is so much to choose from:
Image: Deepali Nandwani.
- Crisp Prawn Tawa Fry (Kundapur masala — a blend of coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, dry red chillies, green papaya thoran, chilli tamarind).
- Edamame Paniyaram (chilli tomato chutney, ananas, and coconut chutney).
- Pulimunchi Wings (stuffed chicken wings, byadgi chilli, curry leaf), extra-large plates such as Ghee Roasted Cauliflower (pickled onion, curry leaf ghee, pomegranate gojju).
- Tellicherry Pepper Crab Roast (garlic butter, coconut rice, and mud crab).
- The Parotta in the Mutton Pepper Roast or even when ordered separately, the way I did, is flaky, crunchy, and has a touch of sweetness. Curry leaf cured snapper is a carpaccio-styled dish that is poured with a flavoursome spiced Kokum Rasa.
My favourites though are the vegetarian dishes.
Image: Deepali Nanwani.
- Appams with delicate and sweet vegetable stew which is a classic.
- Hyderabadi Jackfruit Kofta, stuffed with the underrated jackfruit (a vegetable just coming into its own), mint korma, crumbled paneer, and cashew curry. The earthy flavours bring out the best of the produce, much of it sourced locally, and South India’s complex approach to cooking, an interfusion of all kinds of ingredients.
In this one menu, chef Suresh, through 38 dishes, features culinary classics from five states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana
Hosa Goa’s desserts look to traditions for inspiration
Image: Deepali Nandwani.
A browse through the dessert menu revealed this:
- The ingredients under Mysore Pak Coffee Cheesecake reads Chickpea Fudge, Corn Crumble, and Ghee Crema.
- Mangalorean Gadbad, as the name suggests, is a trio of ice cream, candied nuts, and seasonal fruits.
- I plump for the dainty Coconut N Jasmine, two delicate flavours the dessert celebrates. Coconut ice cream, jasmine sorbet, and crumble — what is there not to like?
The drinks at Hosa are equally inventive
Varun Sharma, who heads the bar at Delhi’s Comorin and helms the Hosa bar, serves up classic, tiki, and modern interpretations. His bar is his space for experimentation with tinctures, infusions and house made sodas. The cocktails make the evenings come alive:
- Rum Kokum Cola served with homemade kokum soda.
- Naughty Paloma has tequila infused with fennel, Vaum grapefruit, and rosemary botanical water.
- Mohabbat ka Sharbat I thought was something you drink outside the Jama Masjid in Delhi, on Fridays. At Hosa Goa, the cold drink sherbet is exactly what you need on humid summer days… I savoured that experience on one such.
I would any day pick a drink from House Sodas — Kokum Cola, a refreshing local fruit, Kokam, infused soda; Ginger Ale that’s the right kind of fizz; and Rose and Pepper Corn infused soda.
Ruciyāda (delicious)!
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Max: 5 stars)
Food: 9/10 | Drinks: 8/10 | Service: 9/10 | Décor: 9/10 | Vibe: 8/10 | One dish we loved: Jackfruit Kofta for the hand-pounded masalas and jackfruit, of course! And homemade sodas | One dish that didn’t work for us: Mutton Samosa. | Bill: Rs 3,400 for two, with food and cocktails.
Address: House no. 60/1, Vaddy, near St. Anthony’s Church, Siolim, Goa. Contact: +91 74986 27977 | Timings: Noon to 11 pm
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