While much of our dining in Portugal focused on Portuguese cuisine, there was one particular ethnic cuisine I was looking to experience, and knew we could find several examples of in Lisbon: Goan Cuisine. Goa, an Indian State in the Konkan region, was Portuguese ruled from 1510 to 1961, and the cuisine of Goa diverged a bit from the surrounding Konkan region over this period, mostly by adapting Portuguese customs (particularly, the use of pork and beef), customs (using vinegar), and ingredients (pineapple, cashews, guavas, tomatoes, and potatoes were all introduced by the Portuguese to Goa). The resulting Goan cuisine remains distinct, and there are quite a few restaurants around Lisbon either labeling themselves Goan, or labeling themselves “Indian” but with heavy Goan influence. One of the better-rated ones, on the edge of the Moorish quarter, is Tentações de Goa (“Temptations of Goa”), and we decided to check them out for our second dinner in Lisbon.
Like a lot of the restaurants near downtown Lisbon, Tentações de Goa is a cozy little restaurant, the width of a single storefront, with two small dining rooms, with total seating for maybe 30 people. So make sure you have reservations. But the restaurant is quite welcoming (if a bit dimly lit, so I apologize if the photos are a bit off): bold colors, star-shaped light fixtures, and fabric covered menus. We relaxed with Indian beers (myself going for a Kingfisher) as we looked over the menu and decided on group appetizers.
First up was an order of Chapati for the table. The chapati was quite good, a nice, simple, single-layered whole-wheat flatbread with a decent amount of ghee, well-toasted, and typical of what I would get at a lot of different Northern Indian restaurants. And definitely a nice flavor departure from typical Portuguese-style breads.
What took this to the next level was the sauce served with it, Hari Mirch ka Achar, a Goan-style green chile achar. Not sure the exact ingredient list here, but this was a very bold mix of at least chopped small green chiles, coarse ground yellow mustard seed, salt, and lime, and it was both extremely flavorful and tasty in its own right, but also a great accompaniment to tthe whole wheat bread notes of the chapati.
We also got an order of pakora, which were rather well-executed besan and chopped vegetable fritters served up with a freshly-prepared mint chutney that was particularly bright in flavor.
Dan ordered up a Goan Pork Vindaloo. These days, vindaloo is mostly known as a British Indian staple of potatoes, peas, meat, and a spicy bold sauce, but the dish itself has its origins in Goa, originally starting as “carne de vinha d’ alhos” (meat stewed in wine and garlic, classic Portuguese-style cooking), later enhanced with the addition of Indian spices. The version at Tentações de Goa is a classic version, with tender acid-marinated pork chunks served up in a very intensely spiced sauce of onions, curry leaves, turmeric, tomatoes, chile powder, lime, cumin, coriander, and a few other spices I couldn’t quite taste. The result was extremely bold and flavorful, with particularly bright, bold flavors. I’d definitely consider ordering this for myself on a future trip.
Myself, I was looking for another specific dish for which Goan cuisine is famous: Chicken Xacuti. Traditionally, a Xacuti is meat or poultry simmered in a sauce of lightly toasted coconut, white poppy seeds, peppercorns, chiles, turmeric, onions, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. The menu at Tentações de Goa claims their version has 14 different spices, and I’ll believe it, this was another great dish: extremely tender and flavorful chicken with a bit of a lime note, and an extremely intense sauce with primary notes of coconut, white poppy, chile, black pepper, and clove. Plated up with some fresh pickled red onion, this was definitely a flavorful dish which I really enjoyed, despite my general dislike of poppy seeds (I don’t generally care for the taste, and they give me a moderately bad headache). Here, the enjoyment of the dish was well worth the two ibuprofen I had to take later in the evening.
Carol, meanwhile, went for the Goan Chicken Curry. I only had a small taste of this, but this was a rather flavorful curry, with the notable difference that the curry included a bit of coconut milk. Definitely a flavorful and tasty dish.
Finally, Sophie went for a vegetarian dish, a Goan-style Chana Bhaji. This was some nicely tender fired chickpeas served up in a rich vegetable stew of potatoes, carrots, turmeric, and tomato.
Overall, I loved Tentações de Goa. The flavors were rich and bold (particularly the xacuti), the spicing unique, the prices reasonable, and the service friendly. If I was in Lisbon longer, I would have definitely come back to explore a few more menu items.
