Being Stand Alone Isn't Lonely Anymore

The verdict of the NDTV Food Awards reiterates what I've been feeling and what's been written about - that the best food in most cities is now not found in hotels, but in stand alone restaurants. That's where you get to chew on the best food for every buck that you shell out. Take a look at the list of award winners here and most of them, you'll see, are independent outlets.Let me give you an example of my holiday this New Year in Goa. Almost every meal that we had outside our hotel was well worth the trek, given the distances involved.

Food and ambience
La Plage, is a stylish beach shack just off Ashwem in north Goa that serves French food. It's usually packed and has a personality like no other place. And that's probably why you don't stand a chance of getting a meal here without a reservation, and one that's made a few days in advance. I chose to share two main course dishes with a dear childhood friend and then was almost tempted to cheat her half way through. My salmon fillet with a roasted sesame crust, drenched in soya, with wasabi potatoes, was a happy combination. The crisp crust added the right amount of crunch to the salmon,  the light soya to mop it up gave it a kick, and the creamiest of potatoes with a dash of wasabi, were all too good to part company with.  But then, as it is with French food, you wish there was more of it on the plate.My friend had a tuna steak with lemon butter sauce with a crushed black pepper crust. The fish turned out to be a little timid when it came to salt, but no complaints otherwise.  For starters we ate chicken liver pate, a La Plage speciality, and it lived upto its reputation.  The gang of kids with us ordered beef burgers, and ate them without being prodded. For dessert, my favourite was the apple cinnamon sorbet. Would I drive again for over an hour to get to my meal at La Plage? Most certainly yes.Small time to big time
If you holiday with foodies, the discussion about where to eat dinner starts well before sundown. One such chit chat and we chose The House of Lloyds, in Saipem, Candolim, a restaurant housed in the garden of a Portuguese house owned by Lloyd himself. The original outlet started off as a small hole in the wall and was so popular, that it went on to become a full fledged restaurant. It's known for its pork chops, although we ended with a lot more on our table, including a yummy coconut fish curry that didnt smell fishy and was bursting with flavours and a Goan chicken Vindaloo served with Goan rice. The pork chops were large in size and juicy, where the flavours were mild and the meat took centrestage. We had a cheerful Lloyd visit our table, and proudly tell us that every chop in his restaurant is grilled by him. While its brilliant quality control,  the only downside in that is that you may have to wait a long while before you get your food.

Best value for money
A short walk from the Taj Village, and we ended up at an open air restaurant called The Stone House. Every table was packed and with good reason. The steaks were solid meaty chunks, sploshed with a meaty chillie sauce. The prawns in butter garlic were the cheapest and juiciest I'd had in a long time. Though the papad with the tzakiki was a bit overrated, as was the one man band on his guitar. But whenever he took a break, we were treated to some of the best blues music I have heard. The service was quick and friendly and the bill was even friendlier to our wallet. Good enough reasons as any to go back.Mussels every time
Bob's Inn is an old landmark in Calangute and every time we've been to this charming little restaurant, we've never been disappointed. From their mussels in white wine, to their steaks to their Fish Recheado, each dish is superlative. To add to that, you have Bob dropping by your table for a chin wag. We simply love it.

Fashion statement
An old haunt that's a shack that never goes out of style is Calamari at Candolim. It hosts one of the best New Year bashes and is a fashionable entertainment spot. The food is good, so is the music, it's bang on the beach, and the staff are very good to kids. A new discovery, was the jacket potatoes with chilli, which goes down very well with chilled beer. Which brings me to my original point of the food in stand alone restaurants being on top. One of the reasons I think is that these people make sure that they get ingredients of the best quality. As Ruth Reichl says, great steaks aren't cooked, they're bought. The important work is done even before they leave the shop. I would say the same is true for many foods, like salmon, tuna or pork chops. Also, since the turnover in these places is so high, what you eat is usually fresh. Another indicator is that most successful restaurants are opening multiple chains to meet the growing demand. Maybe it's time for the swanky hotels to sit up and take notice. Otherwise the stand alone-five star gastronomic divide could hurt the hotel food business in the long run.