Bombay to Goa

Bombay to Goa Serves Exciting Fare From the Tropical State of Goa in India | Eater NY

"When the new restaurant appeared last year in Jersey City’s India Square, it felt like a big event; the spot is at 785 Newark Ave., between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Herbert Place, and is easily reached via the PATH to Journal Square. Sharing a name with a 1972 Bollywood thriller, the menu leans heavily on Goan cuisine (with some Mumbai street snacks), reflecting Goa’s Portuguese influence and its lavish use of pork and vinegar. The owners, husband-and-wife Jainson Fernandes and McQueenie Fernandes, hail from South Goa and still run a beach resort called Salida del Sol; McQueenie is the chef, with Bryan Carvalho as chef de partie and 15 years’ experience cooking Goan food. Highlights we tasted include a bright-red chicken vindaloo ($12.99) with a strong vinegar hit that can be ordered with lamb, shrimp, or fish for a dollar more; Calangute shrimp ($13.99), seven grilled pink shrimp coated in spices that leave a chile burn in the throat; a coconut-laced xacupti curry folded into an omelet and served with a basket of buttered Portuguese bread; a trio of minced mackerel cutlets; an “old Goa chicken fry” with a very dark green, highly spiced dipping sauce I found myself licking up; and xaccuti de galinha ($13.99), boneless chicken tidbits in the same mellow sauce as the omelet. We also enjoyed mutton sukka (tender, assertively flavored meat sourced from a nearby halal butcher, Bangladeshi Supplies), a bright yellow Goan pulao, and the pungent Goan yellow dal. Many dishes come with a Goan vinegar dressing salad — a cabbage-based slaw — and if you want digestive help there’s a kokum-based “digestive booster” ($2.99); the restaurant is BYOB. The room is airy and colorful, plastered with beach and colonial photos, and the tables are even named for Goan and Mumbai cities like Margao, Vasco, and Panaji; if you’re yearning for a winter beach escape on the Arabian Sea, Bombay to Goa provides a cheap, flavorful alternative." - Robert Sietsema