A Fiesta on Wheels
So the Goa Food and Music festival is back in town at the Campal Parade grounds in Panjim from 29th April to 1st May. It begins at 5:30 and ends at around between 10:30-11 pm. Rita Rose and her son Englebert Rose (Goan singers who were very popular during your parents time) were headlining yesterday's opening day and my mom was really really eager to go see them. She persuaded me by saying I'll buy you lot to eat and well that was enough for me and my brother. We arrived and the smell of kebabs and grilled meat fresh in the air, along with music and the sounds of people meeting and talking with their friends and family and of course people drinking Cashew Feni (local drink) and various types of beer and Cocktails. A typical Goan scene, this. After visiting one half of the venu and having a look at the stalls I stumble across this big blue truck sitting in the middle on the right side of the entrance.
As soon as we pass by, Steve approached us, he takes down the orders and chats with people. The friendly and casual attitude is what attracted us in the first place. The menu was simple and not too stuffed up, they had burgers (Chicken and Beef), a hot dog, nachos with beef chili, sour cream, salsa and cheese and lots more. So I decide to try their Tacos since I've been dying for tacos of lately, while my brother decided to go for a beef 'Heisen Burger' as they call it. They make the soft shell tacos(soft tortillas) since everything is served fresh and quick and a hard shell taco would just get soggy. They're available in prawn, chicken, beef and fish. The tacos were the first to arrive and I was quite surprised with the quantity. They were two, well sized, steaming hot, tortilla based tacos filled with 5-6 even better sized batter friend prawns filled with lots of sauces which I weren't sure what they were but man did they pack a punch! Next came the burger, again quite a big burger, surrounded with homemade pickle, cheese tomato and bacon, the burger was great. A lot of people in Goa who make burgers focus on the sauces and other stuff and not the patty, but the patty is supposed to be the star of the burger. Look at Mc Donald's, have you ever had a plain beef burger patty? Well, if you have or haven't, let me tell you its tasteless, however if you go to Burger King you'll realize its 10x better and thats what Antojitos does you can certainly taste and feel that they have put a lot of love in to that juciy beef patty. Both the burger and the tacos were Rs.200/- each and well worth the price. Next my mom wanted to try their Fish and Chips, after having a chat with Steve he told us that the fish they use was fresh local mahi-mahi fish and after a while the fish and chips rolled out. I must mention the service is really swift. So the fish and chips were perfect the fish was really well marinated you could taste all the spices that went to it, batter fried to a crisp perfection, crunchy yet a hint chewiness, perfection. Served with a tartare sauce and ample chips. We then tried a BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) sandwich which you can guess was again great! When it comes to bacon I belong to team crispy. However the bacon here was the perfect blend of crispy and chewy and all in all a great sandwich that left a lovely homely feeling all over. We finally ended with believe it or not a steak. Yes a steak from a food truck parked on the Campal Parade grounds. So Steve suggested, to have it medium-rare and I was highly skeptical since I alway have my steak medium, medium-well done and sometimes well done at places that don't know how to do a proper steak, but nothing with the word rare in it, but everything was excellent so far and I trusted steve and the boys inside. So after a while this plate arrives with lovely thin sliced pieces of juicy along with a roasted corn cob and jamican beans and rice. Would you believe a perfect medium-rare steak from a truck? The beans and rice were great so was the corn and the steak was absolutely brilliant! Takes a while for it to hit you but in two seconds theres this explosion in your mouth from the chimi churri sauce and the lovely rub/marination that they use with every bite you take, juicy and zesty. What a way to end, with a bang. I thoroughly enjoyed every dish I tasted and could feel the love that went into making every dish. Two things I like the most about antojitos is firstly they're eco friendly everything from the plates to the solar panels on top of the truck, it's evident that do their part for the environment and second everything is homemade and local, write from the pickled cucumber to the bacon to the buns and nachos, everything is homemade, everything is fresh. Right now Antojitos just does events like the Samba Square during the carnival, food festivals and more, you will soon see this bright blue truck on the streets of Taleigao. 'Antojitos' remember the name, because this truck is certainly gonna be owning the streets! |
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Pic Courtesy: Antojitos' Page on Facebook