Nav Tara - Pure-Veg in Panjim Goa

As they say, nobody goes to Goa to eat veg food.

But what about pure vegetarians (like the author)?

Research and enquiries threw up the name of Nav-Tara, supposed to be one of the best (?!) for veg southie dishes. We (a gang of 7 comprising 3 senior citizens) went there at 9-00 AM one morning.

At all times, the staff assume that they are doing you a favor. Grumpy and rude.. sample this : we ordered idli. It came ice cold.. believe it or not. When we requested the waiter to get us hot idlis, his response was classic:

" you will get idlis at this temperature only; if you dont want, then don't eat it"

and without even waiting for our response proceeded to lap up the plate of idli on our table. Atrocious !

At 9-00 AM in the morning you get cold idli-s !!

While exiting the place, I approached the manager (I assume so; he was the only staffer wearing a tie !!) who was on the phone, going on and on to his caller about how this particular DVD player has better features, with a remote control that has colorful buttons.. etc.. TOTALLY neglecting a customer who wanted to talk to him DURING THEIR BUSINESS HOURS !!

I prompted.. "Excuse me, Sir.. just a minute, pls"..

He went on and on with his phone talk, looking through me as if I was thin air !!

I prompted again.. "Excuse me, Sir.. just a minute, pls"..

He went on and on with his phone talk, this time je just turned his face away !!!!

I waited for exactly 180 seconds and then barged out.

Visit NavTara, only if you want a perfect way to destroy a simple veg dining experience.

In contrast, there are joints in Bombay which courteously dish out STEAMING hot idlis even at midnite tme.