By Tara Narayan<p>

BY NOW I’ve traveled up several national highways by bus or private vehicle and I know from experience that what most travellers look forward to with their fingers crossed is a decent place or a watering hole for some “R and R” i.e. rest and recreation. They may be country inns or state-of-the-art motels, I remember with nostalgia several of them in England and Europe. But closer home in tourist haven Goa down the entire Bambolim-Verna-Margao NH-17 stretch there’s only one place which qualifies as a highway stopover – the absolutely charming British-styled pub-cum-restaurant called Leonoras, at Verna (just a stone’s throw away from the go-karting track nearing Margao). Several occasions while driving by I’ve been tempted to stop at the inviting garden nook of Leonoras but only recently did I do so and was delighted to discover such friendly pub-cum-restaurant.

Like most country highway inns Leonoras too has the warm, personal touch of being somebody’s home (at one time at least) and this is probably the first real pub of Goa (pub, not taverna or bar, okay)…an interesting array of art and knick knacks around, appealing, stylized paintings up on the walls (lots of them, you know somebody must have collected them with care and affection), photographs, neatly and cleanly-dressed up tables and chairs…a television set at vantage point. The adjoining bar set-up reminded me of a true blue British bar and then I was not surprised when I learned that the owner was Mr. Jerome Mendes, a Goan settled in Britian, but who is so much in love with his Goa and his roots that he comes and goes and tries perhaps to keep more than one foot (definitely his heart) more here than there! I’ve met him, a genial, bluff Goan with genuine, soft, old-world manners…but I didn’t know about his Leonoras then, nor the hospital-cum-home for senior citizens which he is putting up in the vicinity of Leonoras…

After the recent go-karting championship event, tired and dusty and not a little hungry, we’d decided to give in to an old whim and drew up at Leonoras, and instead of hanging around in the garden restaurant with a drink we went in to do a dekho of the pub and restaurant. I found myself  plonking down on one the chairs and ordering a vegetable biryani (imagine ordering a biryani at such a Goan-cum-British pub, whims can be so contrary) and a mushroom ommelette with buttered toast. Both appeared within a short time in generous portion and I found myself polishing up the leftovers of the buttered toast and mushroom omlette! The hubby wanted to catch the news on the idiot-box so one of the service boys obligingly put on the TV, we were practically the only ones in the restaurant although some more folk walked in a little while later. I don’t think I’ve felt so much at home at any other restaurant in Goa as at Leonoras.

And the menu is interesting with seafood sizzlers galore, how about the “Seafood Ecstasy” (kingfish, squid, tiger prawns…cooked in orange sauce, Rs.175) or  “Fish Fillet on Bed of Roses” (fish fillets grilled and served with Bar-B-Que sauce and placed on slicesof ed tomatoes, served with rice, buttered veggies and fried fries, Rs.175)…fruity  pork chops, ginger chicken sizzler, pepper steak sizzler, chateau brianne with mushroom sauce…this is the place to eat sandwiches for the bread is local bakery bread and fresh and thankfully mineral water is priced at only Rs.20 (unlike the exorbitant pricing elsewhere in five and seven-star deluxe hotels, in any case I hate this whole fake culture of mineral water bottles, the water is rarely real mineral water and it’s been proved now that much of the processed water bottled is more contaminated than your ordinary tap or filtered water, no?). Anyway, some touches I appreciated…the toast didn’t come stingily pre-buttered but with the butter – a generous portion – served separately. For starters try the fish fingers (juliennes of fish marinaded in ginger, garlic, lemon paste and crumb fried, Rs.80) or the Fish Caldin (delicately cooked in coconut milk and green masala,  Rs.100, I’m convinced this is the only way to eat a good fish lately)…the liquor is reasonably priced as the mocktails (Rs.60), why no good old-fashioned coconut water???

A laid-back or déjà vu atmosphere suggests that you may loiter around as much as you please…feel free… stay, order something else, it’s okay with us if you just kill time over a beer. Hey, I was loving Leonoras by the minute, I believe it is named after Mr. Mendes’ dear wife. I’ve fallen totally for Leonoras and I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop anywhere else while driving down to Margao for one reason or another. If you like old-world places you need to discover Leonoras.<p>

FISH FINGER TALK<p>

TALKING of fish fingers (I’m into them in a big way these days) reminds me that we were at Dipti and Dattaraj Salgaocar’s lovely home at Chicalim to celebrate the Austrian National Day (Mr. Salgaocar is the honorary consul of Austria in Goa) in the company of the H.E. Dr. Jutta Stefan-Bastl, Ambassador of Austria to India and well, they had some of the most scrumptious cocktails doing the rounds, accompanied by wine from Austria. The fish fingers with tartar sauce were a piece de resistance but then La Paz Restaurant in Vasco does good catering (and is arguably the most decent place for lunch or dinner while out in Vasco). The genial F & B manager, Jerry, also had  mushroom vol au vents, chicken kababs, circulating …and what do you know, neat little parcels of mini masala dosa! A great idea, I thought and Jerry explained that it was easy, “all we do is make the large-sized dosa, stuff them with masala sabzi and cut them appropriately (a la pizza) and serve as finger food.” A whole lot of folk with or without Austrian connections were there  and to say the least here, it was a rewarding evening.

I also met some some interesting folk and made a few more Guju friends in Goa,  including a honorary “Goan Gujarati” who’s been born, brought up and bred in Ahmedabad, who speaks Gujarati fluently, namely Therese Almeida. She said nostalgically, “I’ve lived so happily in Ahmedabad for years that now…..after what happened…I cannot even bear to return for a holiday.” (Sigh) It’s a sentiment one comes across time and again amongst Gujaratis settled elsewhere but have roots or affinity for all things Gujarati. Well, it was the Austrian National Day on November 6 but thankfully nobody, not even Lucio da Miranda or wife ……offered to sing a song from “The Sound of Music”, the film which made Austria famous in the consciousness of many a non-Austrian (while the ordinary Austrian has probably never heard of the film, remember Julie Andrews soaring away  “Doe, a deer….ray, a drop of golden sun…” There’s more to Austria ….it’s the home of some of the most famous opera houses where Strauss and Beethovan thrived, it’s a centre for medical excellence, also the home of the famous (infamous?, no) Sigmund Freud. Austria is surely one of the more intellectually, classically exciting countries of Europe with its history and Alpine beauty.

My last thought while leaving and brushing by a harshingar bush in bloom (scenting the night air divinely) was I must walk through Dipti and Dattaraj’s extensive garden grounds during the day time one of these days. Take a closer look at the trees, including a fine collection of over 150 palm trees from the world over (or so confided “Mr. Farmer” Mendonca who was there). It’s always intriguing to do a dekho of the homes of the rich and the beautiful! Who collects what –  paintings of Husain or Bhupen Khakkar, old Goan cooking utensils, old Goan agricultural tools, Ganesha idols in every known and unknown material, exotic hibiscus (or shoeflower) in pristine white, shocking pink, exquisite pure red…etc., etc. One of these days I think I will concentrate on pursuing my own collection….of what? Ah, a secret.  <p>

DUM BIRYANI AT ‘ANANTASHRAM’, VASCO<p>

AND TALKING of biryani earlier, I just want to tell you when the rich and the beautiful order home biryani in Vasco, they order it from Shripad Shetye’s Hotel Anantashram. It’s a most popular eatery and always has a lot of  young folk around. When I dropped in recently there was no time to order the dum biryani but I’ve a future date….for whatever reason Goans love biryani be it mutton, chicken or fish biryani. Can’t say I’ve come across a decent biryani in Goa though. One of these days and on second thoughts I have….a while ago at the Tarun Bharat’s “Groove” (an English weekend supplement for the well-read Marathi daily) do at Hawaii Beach front Restaurant and Bar (a great location at Dona Paula) they were serving a most mouthwatering dum biryani.  Who cooked it? A caterer from Belgaum! Right, they had to be non-Goan. I do believe that a real biryani is a mutton biryani and the flavour of good halal meat must sing a song in every grain of rice! That can only happen if the biryani is cooked dum or sealed style. This is to say here’s another biryani address if you want to eat biryani. Call up H.I. Peerzade of Shafee of  Taj Dam Biryani, down A.K. Deshpande Galli, Fort Road, Belgaum (tel.nos. 2466716/2460764/Cell  9844030790. Enjoy.

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