When in Goa, most of us look out for fun, frolic and comfort food, rather than fine dining or gourmet restaurants. In our recent trip, the resort was in Assagao, we were tired after a ten hours long road trip from Pune and it was raining in the evening. Search for nearby restaurants turned up Gunpowder with superb reviews and the promise of serving amazing pork/beef. What else does one need! We placed it on the map and it was hardly a kilometre or two from the resort. Not willing to drive long in the rain, Gunpowder’s cuisine was the perfect choice for the night. Located on a relatively quiet road, it’s not hard to find though.

Address: 6, Saunto Vaddo, main Anjuna-Mapusa Road, Next to Hotel Astoria, Assagao, Bardez, Goa, India

Contact:0832-2268091 / 0832-2268083

Check them out on Facebook 

USP – Quirky decor, handicraft store, south Indian non-vegetarian food

Decor

One of the USPs of Gunpowder is its decor. There are cane chairs and tables in the portico, Chinese lanterns up on the thatched ceiling with coloured trails of frayed rags. The seating is mostly outdoor in a pretty garden, though it was raining while we visited. The tables in portico were already filled with happily eating people, so we had to wait while one of them was vacant. You will find a bookshelf among all other attractive decorations and a mini store inside that houses lovely pieces. There isn’t a lot of space, but it is enough for Gunpowder to operate.

Ambience

Since it’s Goa, there can’t be a sombre fine dining ambience to most restaurants. This place is frequently visited by all kinds of tourists and even repeated customers who had loved the cuisine in their earlier outings. Gunpowder has a very laidback look and feel to the setting where people come to relax, have a drink and some lovely food. Since there are shopping options for tourists as well, there is a lot to saunter around and spend at leisure.

Food

Cuisine is the main USP of Gunpowder. It can’t be termed just as South Indian non-vegetarian food as there’s more detail attached to it. There are certain items in the menu that were introduced by the Syrian Christians in Kerala. They are native to Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, quite exclusive and can’t be found anywhere else in Goa. Since we are deprived of beef in Maharashtra, it was a delight to find the Beef Chilli Fry in Gunpowder. It has always been our favourite at the Keralite restaurants in Hyderabad, but couldn’t find similar ones in Pune. That’s the first item we ordered from the not so elaborate menu with a large Feni. I think the quantity was just short for two, and it was a little expensive. The pieces of beef were fried perfectly, juicy on the inside and topped with fried curry leaves, coconuts and lots of onion. There was nothing to complain.

The next item we ordered was glazed Roast Pork Ribs. We roast pork chops at home but they don’t turn out to be so succulent and soft. If pork is over roasted, it turns rubbery and chewy, but Gunpowder nailed this dish. The marinade was wonderfully aromatic and spicy – we could spot star anise, nutmeg, mustard and a variety of other Indian spices. It was melt in the mouth and a delight. I think it was our first try of roast Pork ribs with Indian spices. It’s a must try at Gunpowder if you’re a pork lover. In my opinion, most of the food and beverages are a little overpriced compared to their quantity.

We’d love to have tried more items of Pork from the menu, but there weren’t many options and the Pandi Curry was described as sweet. You can go ahead and order Andhra Prawns Curry, we didn’t as we’ve had enough of that one already!

Service

The waiters are few but friendly and there’s not much slack in serving the food. Overall, satisfactory, I’d say.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Zomato: 

Have you ever been here? Let me know how you liked it. 

Shoot a mail to invite for restaurant/diner reviews, menu tasting and pre-launch events at chernozems.prb@gmail.com. Location: Pune