COMFORT IS THE NEW COOL

How Goa is Redefining the Way We Eat Out

- By Aditi Malhotra

In a place like Goa, where the waves don't hurry and the sunsets refuse to rush, it's no surprise that the food scene is starting to slow down too, in all the best ways.

If you've lived here for even a few months or come often enough to know your favourite chai stall, you'll feel it. That quiet shift. Restaurants that used to compete on presentation and novelty are now leaning into something softer. Something that feels more like coming home than dining out. The trend isn't loud. It doesn't announce itself with neon boards or 12course tasting menus. But it's here, and growing, or may be like coming full circle, because it was like this not many years ago.

And it has one thing on its mind, comfort.

A SLOW SHIFT THAT FEELS JUST RIGHT

Comfort-first dining isn't a global trend Goa is blindly following. It feels more like the food culture is catching up with the way people already live here. It started small, maybe a café that served just three things, but did them really well. Or a neighbourhood kitchen that began offering homestyle thalis that weren't about reinvention, but about the joy of a simple dal that reminds you of your childhood. It was always there, but remained limited to far & few.