Eating out in Margao? Peppers is where you should head to

On the quaint hillock of Pajifond in Margao exists a restaurant that serves the flavours of Goa and leaves its guests peppered with zest for good living. Peppers  is not just another bar and restaurant but one of the few hubs of gourmet cuisine in South Goa and Margao in particular.

Started 20 years ago by Rommel de Souza, who learned to cook over the phone from his mother and aunt while working in Kuwait, Peppers has become one of Goa’s few landmarks where food truly adds the perfect spice to life.

“When I started, I thought of making it a place that served only Goan food but realised that tastes are varied and slowly expanded the cuisine without changing the essence of our traditional style,” says Rommel as he looks back over the years.

At Peppers, the menu is not wide but the taste is vast and the place can be singled out for the quality of ingredients used. The meats are of quality, the fish is fresh and the desserts are expressively cooked by Elizabeth Gomes whose hands stir the pots.

Beef rolado with pork meat, beef stew with pork, and sausage pulao—dishes now turning a rarity in most Goan homes—are prominent on the menu of this restaurant that takes its clients through memories of the glory days of the Goan kitchen.

“Food,” according to Elizabeth, “is a catalyst to happiness. And, when you are happy, that is translated to your client through the food prepared. What one cooks at home should not be tempered with when preparing for guests. We treat our guests like family.”

The cuisine at Peppers caters to flavours from China, Continental, India and Goa and they remain distinctive in every dish, just as the hygiene in the place, that is a priority.

Dishes are priced from Rs 400 to Rs 550 and apart from local food, Peppers takes its guests through journeys with dishes like dried chilli peanut chicken or a beef oyster that guarantees tasteful experimentation.

“We like to come up with new dishes,” explains Rommel. “Me and my aunt Elizabeth take time to discuss something new for the taste of our clients and end up with new dishes,” he adds.

Apart from the aunty and nephew duo who oversee the kitchen, the Goan cuisine is handled by two chefs from Goa and the rest by staff roped in from other parts of the country.

Peppers is one of the few restaurants in Goa that branches not only into the well-being of its clients but the populace in general. “It was during Covid that I realised that there is much to life then to just making  money and that the joy one gets in giving cannot be quantified,” confesses Rommel while detailing his experiments during the pandemic.

“Before the pandemic, 80 percent of our clientele was local and 20 percent was Indian and foreigners. It changed after the pandemic with Indians taking the 60 percent slot and locals 40 per cent. It’s seventy per cent local now and thirty percent tourists,” admits Rommel.

The bar at Peppers stocks some of the best brands of alcohol with Goa’s own coconut feni—a drink rarely stocked by most bars—being on top of the list. Drinks are reasonably priced, single malt ranging from Rs 800 to Rs 2000 for 60 ml and Black Label served for Rs 550 for a large.

The desserts at Peppers should not be missed because the caramel custard and serradura take you closest to the taste of original Goa through the hands of Elizabeth who winks Goa through her sunglasses.

Like many restaurant owners in Goa, Rommel too finds it difficult to give an all-Goa texture to service at the restaurant. “I find it difficult to get local staff and even if I do, they do not last for long because they think with their heart,” he laments.

In does not matter because at Peppers the flavour flows from the heart.

DETAILS

WHAT: Peppers Gourmet Cuisine

ADDRESS: 15/604, Near Child Care School, Gold Road, Pajifond, Margao

TIME: Open daily (11 am to 3 pm and 6.30 pm to 11 pm)

CONTACT: (0832)2711125