With an unusual name and an interesting story about it, Kasa ‘n’ KooX in Vagator, Goa, offers foodies a taste of Japanese food, an impressive bar menu, and a surprising twist in the tale.
Image: Nikhil Gupta.
What’s in a name? Nearly 400 years ago (425, to be precise), William Shakespeare had pretty Juliet ponder over name-whys. There certainly is something to a name. You’ll know when you huff up the coarse chunky steps of the new Kasa ‘n’ KooX restaurant, catch a long breath, and listen to Shweta Gupta — owner — deconstruct Juliet-like name-soliloquy. You’ll not find KooX in the dictionary, the word means nothing. But Gupta — in her calm as a millpond voice — will reel off how the word came about.
The X factor in Goa
The Japanese restaurant required, well, a Japanese name or at least a close approximation. メ (me), the katakana syllable in the gojūon script order was an essential; so was auspicious K. But Gupta still had to fill two blanks between the K and the X. Then, she stumbled upon the ‘oo’ that now sits pretty in between and the word KooX was born.
Image: Nikhil Gupta.
KooX, however, does not sit solitary at the end of a dirt track in Vagator. It is a threesome: KooX, the main restaurant, offers lunch and dinner; Kasa has small bites and morsels inspired by Ishigaki, a Japanese island paradise known for its food and white beaches, and spritzers and shots to wash it down; and the after-dark SpeakEasy Bar, an exclusive members-only space that is meant to revive memories of the vintage era when Ladies and Gentlemen retired post dinner for their aperitifs and cigars.
There is no one clock for all three. So, set your clocks according to the hunger in your gut and the thirst in your gullet. And you can bring in a crowd as the three together can seat more than 280 humans.
When green is the vibe that matters…
I’ll repeat. The laterite steps to KooX can frustrate a duff pair of lungs. Just get distracted by the tall trees and pretty flowers. A large glass door opens into a minimal setting with unusual green walls, black ceiling, woven chairs encased within towering glass panes. I was curious about the unfamiliar green, but Gupta remembers not the number on the shade card. “Green is Kasa’s colour,” she says, harking back to the green of their Kasa restaurant in Chennai.
“The vibe came before the design draft,” Gupta confesses. The indoor-outdoor fluid see-through space with music and cosiness had to be the mood. And to execute the mood The Auburn Studio was hired to create an easy-breezy space in what was until recently a hillock of rubble. Every nail, every wall, every chair in place in three and a half months flat! A feat that Gupta is still jaw-dropping at.
Get into the spirit at Kasa ‘n’ KooX, Goa
If you needed a long breath after the walk up the stairs, you’d probably need another longer one to run through the menu curated by Shweta and Chef Umesh Chandel who brings along Japanese joys from his stint at Wasabi by Morimoto at The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
Image: Nikhil Gupta.
As a PDF, the KooX Rooftop Asian Grill beverage menu runs to 12 pages, the menu margin matching with the colourful shirt of the servers. The Mixologist Vault has Gold Dust Negroni (actually stirred with gold dust), Aura, Goth Elixir, Fortune of Magenta that is tagged ‘The most Instagrammed drink’.
Old School Classics & Classic Twists appear on Page 2 followed by wines, wines by glass, Japanese whisky, liqueurs, etc. Pay attention to a sake named Hakushika Tokubetsu Yamadanishiki Honjojo (300 mL for Rs 5,000), a Bordeaux white wine called Clarendelle Blanc Semmilion Sauvignon Blanc (Rs 15,000), and a Dom Perignon Champagne for Rs 55,000.
The KooX food for your adventurous mood
The KooX food menu is slightly shorter than the beverage list — it is 10 pages and breaks dishes under Sushi, Gyoza (a Japanese crescent-shaped dumpling filled with a minced stuffing and steamed, boiled or fried; the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese jiaozi), Small plates hot/cold, Soup, Mains and its USP — the Robata-Yaki BBQ Grill (literally, fireside cooking, Robatayaki is a Japanese method of barbecue in which food is cooked at varying speed over hot charcoal).
Listing both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, KooX’s Robata-Yaki dishes are served with table sauces (wasabi, smoked ponzu sauce, Sichuan chilli sauce). Shweta’s favourite is the Belgium Pork Belly with spicy apple sauce (Rs 1,125) and New Zealand Lamb Chops with soy, garlic, Togarashi, sesame oil (Rs 1,125).
If you have a liking for pork belly, try Pork Kakuni from the Mains (72-hours braised pork belly with Kakuni sauce, Rs 1,250). Duck, Sea bass, lobster, salmon, prawns are also thrown on the Robata.
Goa’s own Japan, at Kasa ‘n’ KooX
Though KooX has an overwhelming Japanese flavour, there’s a twist in the tale. Hold your surprise if you find Mexican tacos on your table. “The idea,” Chef Chandel said, “was to create something different from what is usually served in Japanese restaurants.”
Image: Nikhil Gupta.
Huffing down the laterite steps, Britney Spears’ oft-repeated Japan two-liner popped in my thoughts. “I’ve never really wanted to go to Japan. Simply because I don’t like eating fish. And I know that’s very popular out there in Africa,” she had said. Well, my geography is not as addled as Spears’, but Japan was actually out there in Vagator. In Kasa ‘n’ KooX.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ (Max: 5 stars)
Food: 8/10 | Service: 7/10 | Interiors/Décor: 7/10 | Vibe: Easy breezy | One dish we loved: Everyone is talking about the pork belly and lamb chops | One thing that didn’t work for us: That walk up the stairs is very inconvenient.
Address: Casa Waters, House number 588, Ozran beach, Vagator Beach, Goa Phone: +91 99491 40798, +91 9168601304 | Timings: Kasa (3-7pm); KooX (12-3pm and 7pm to midnight) on all days
Instagram: @Kooxgoa | Alcohol served: Yes. 30 labels of wine, 20 labels of vodka and premium selections of single malts, scotch, sake, and champagne | Payment methods: Cash, card, UPI | Disabled access: Not yet. Will be available shortly | Dress code: Smart casual | Pet friendly: No | Wi-fi: Yes | Smoking: Yes | Music: Yes
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