I have been quite on a roll these days! If you follow me on Instagram, you know I recently visited Goa (yes, for the third time in the last 9 months).
So it was indeed a great surprise when I was invited by several restaurants for reviewing them, out of which I chose a couple. Cotinga Café had to be my #1 choice.
First look –
I browsed through the eateries and though there was quite an assortment of fine dines, cafes, bars, Cotinga captured my heart is ways more than one. Maybe I was biased towards it, considering it has been ranked among Vogue’s Top 20 Brunch Places in India or the idea of having a meal inside a life size birdcage allured me boundless. I can’t pick up just one excuse!
I should admit, I was initially nervous but as time passed I realized comfort lied in the vibes of the place, not the setting.
Location –
Cotinga is located far off from the hustle of the beaches, but surely not a hit and miss. It’s opposite the church at Anjuna, within the premises of Tamarind Hotels.
As you enter –
You are welcomed with a huge life size birdcage, all lit up! It’s a fairy tale moment, I promise! Plenty of greens all around, a bar at a side and a stage for the performances during the nights.
A couple of steps and you can’t help but notice the alluring cheesecakes and other seducing desserts. A quick chat with the smiling Lorraine and you make yourself a part of the ambiance.
Hues of white, punctuated with turquoise interiors. Breezy, summery & chic all sewed.
Food –
We sipped on some chilled Sangria and then the deluge of meals began.
Chicken Ceaser Salad –
Crispy tender chicken chunks in fresh lettuce, 
bathed in a perfectly moist mayo dressing led the perfect way for our meals.
Greek salad –
A welcome tangy delight was this salad. Crunchy veggies, crisp cheese bits and that tangy zest of olives made it a delight on a rather sunny day.
Crispy Honey Chicken & Chilly Paneer –
Being a Hindu, I was initially skeptical about it, given we don’t use honey and chicken together in our preparations. BUT this dish stood out completely! Sweetness on point, totally! Even if you are a tiny bit experimenter, you know you have to try it here.
The Paneer, an all-time favorite carried forth the legacy as always!
Rawa Fried Squid (Kalamari) & King fish (Surmai) –
There are some who like the Rawa coating to be stiff and crunchy while there are some who want to actually savour the fish as is. Fortunately or unfortunately, I fall in the second category and I like my fish to be just slightly fried and rawa to be kept at minimum. So it was a slight disappointment when the semolina coating was thick.
Chickenaro Pizza & Veg Lovers Pizza –
The Chickenaro Pizza was a blend of cheese and sausage so thumbs up. Veg Lovers Pizza was again ordinary. Both these pizzas came with a decent cheese filling, but what I must really appreciate here is that they were neither thin crust nor thick crust. They were somewhere in between and I found that thickness ideal.
Chicken Tikkas –
Kababs is something they pride in and truly worth!
Finally, somewhere between our burps & slurps, we were told to keep some space for desserts.
And trust me, you have eaten to your heart’s content, your stomach’s brim full but when you have your meal after watching sinful desserts at the counter, you can’t mutter no.
3 cheesecakes were gone in less than 60 seconds!
Chocolate Ecstasy left us speechless. If you are a sucker for chocolates, you can’t leave this place without gorging on these! Next, we gobbled on the Blueberry Cheesecake. They claim it’s one of their highest selling pastries, and why shouldn’t be given they make the Mascarpone cheese in-house! Lastly, the Oreo Cheesecake, that’s again a masses favourite turned out to be a delight – both visually as well as flavour.
Why you must head here? The quaint ambiance, airy interiors & the vast array of food items + enthralling desserts.
On my next visit I’d have? Crispy Honey Chicken + Try some pasta + Blueberry Cheesecake
Ideal for? I found this café ideal for almost any sort of gathering – friends reunion, couples, family brunches.
Day vs night? I reached this place around 3 which I found to be ideal to savour the vibrant surroundings. But of what I hear the salsa workshop, movie nights, it surely pulls masses as it gets darker.
