It was past midnight, and Sunita was getting ready to call it a night, when a high-end vehicle stopped in front of her kiosk, and inquired about the price of a Maggi noodle dish.
“Rs 20 for vegetarian and Rs 80 for non-veg,” Sunita replied, as she gave her last cleaning touches to the stove in her kiosk.
“Three vegetarian noodles,” ordered the gentleman driving the car.
“Please park the car first and then come back. Only then will we start preparing the noodles,” asserted Sunita’s partner. “They order and disappear. These guys are not to be trusted,” he explained.
Fast food and economical food is the new hashtag for domestic tourists. And, the new trend seems to be biting the pockets of the industry.
“Years back, when Russian and German charters were in vogue, tourists would sit in hotel restaurants and feast on tiger prawns, as though they were eating cashew nuts,” recollects Anselm, who donned the mantle of F&B manager in his prime.
“Along with tiger prawns, they used to finish a box of six beers. Not the small bottles, but regular ones, and tip the staff well. Kitchen sale was an essential part of the property’s budget back then,” recollects Anselm, as he is witness to the new style of food on wheels.
“People staying in luxury resorts will normally not step out to eat on the roadside. They may visit high-end or renowned restaurants. Food carts started mushrooming after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says.
Handcarts and food stalls, feels Brain, who owns a homestay, draw people living in homestays, rentback apartments and domestic tourists because eating at food stalls is the latest trend across India.
Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore come alive through roadside stalls that serve meals. Today, proper meals are served at makeshift places, so seeing tourists searching for food stalls is not something new, thinks Brian.
Despite restaurants remaining open well past midnight along the northern coastal belt, from Sinquerim to Arambol, food stalls seem to be the hot places that draw the crowd in the villages that dot the coast.
Today, food stalls can be found along the coast from Vagator to the capital city – each village having at least one, if not more, places where food is served well into the night.
Despite restaurants remaining open well past midnight along the northern coastal belt, from Sinquerim to Arambol, food stalls seem to be the hot places that draw the crowd in the villages that dot the coast.
“We normally close soon after our food is over, and sometimes, it could be as early as 11 pm though we normally close at around 1 am. It depends on what time the parties get over,” mutters Lazar, owner of a famous eatery in North Goa.
At a busy junction, a male can be heard prompting his friend over the phone, “The only thing I can get for you is a cheese-tomato sandwich. There is nothing else available. Dude, something is better than nothing.”
The tourists like the food. “The stuff you get at these food stalls are authentic meals cooked by the locals. The quantity is filling, the taste is exceptional and price reasonable. One can have a nice sandwich for around Rs 80,” admits Sharan from the North East.
An array of dishes in beef, chicken, pork and assorted Maggi noodles are on most menus of food stalls that thrive on Goan roads at night. For many visitors, eating out has become a habit so as to get the taste of Goa at a bargain.