The Sizzling South

South Goa is doing all it can to shun its image of being slow, and thanks to a few party places, is managing to influence party revellers from the south to reconsider their plans of crossing the Zuari bridge to drive to the north. Café finds out more

Published on:

22 Apr 2017, 8:28 pm

For the longest time, the southern part of Goa has been

a victim of stereotyping and has been dismissed as quiet (read:

slow) and ‘not happening’. The northern beach belt has for

long hogged the limelight, thanks to its never-ending parties

and after-parties. Without taking anything away from North

Goa, which is indeed buzzing with newer places coming to

life thereby adding to the existing list of ‘go-to’ venues, the

South has been rather silently yet steadily working towards

upping its game with regard to offering options for food,

music and a dose of ‘good time’, to the point that it would

not be an exaggeration to say that the South is capable of

competing with the North. The Easter night last Sunday is a

testament to this.

The evening of April 15 was abuzz with excitement and

the celebration mood was palpable. Popular haunts like

SinQ, Cohiba, etc had the stage set for their respective Easter

parties and expected to pull in a sizeable crowd, and to a

certain extent, succeeded at it too. The South, on the other

hand, had a few ‘parties’ up its sleeve as Gawin’s in Verna, and

The Southern Deck and Firefly in Benaulim attracted party

revellers in big numbers.

Ankith Kedar, Director of an event and artiste

management company - Strobe Nightlife, helps out his

friend – the owner of The Southern Deck (TSD), by curating

the regular Friday nights, called ‘Man I Love Fridays’ at the

venue. Ankith says, “The Easter gig at TSD, done by Quicksand

Events, was one of the biggest successes. So there are nights

like these once in a while where we go all out curating and

promoting an event and we are rewarded with a full house.

With regard to our regular gigs, we keep shuffling our

concepts to avoid monotony. In the past, we have had a mix

of shows ranging from acoustic, retro, a DJ night, etc.”

Barely a few months old in the business, TSD is spicing

things up on the entertainment front. Located a few hundred

metres away, Firefly Bistro Bar that has been running the

show for a little longer, has upped its game too. Donovan Vaz,

Proprietor, says, “Things in the South are surely spicing up

and the locals from this part of the state now have the option

of not having to drive to the North. Until some time ago,

before the implementation of the 10 pm sound restriction,

we used to have our regular Saturday night gig that used to

attract about 250-300 people, which is great for a restaurant

of the size of Firefly. After discontinuing the Saturday Nights,

team Firefly toyed

with the idea of

Sunday Brunch and

the healthy response

was good enough

to convince them

to make it a weekly

affair. The Brunch

comes in the form of

a package where one

can enjoy live music,

unlimited beer,

sangria and brunch

buffet for a fixed sum.

“Even during Lent, we managed to get a good crowd. That’s a

good sign”, says Donovan.

While the entertainment bit has undergone positive

change in the South, the food department is where there have

been more frequent and exciting developments. Some names

on this list include Ignia, next to Uddear Springs neighbouring

Soul Soufflé, has managed to get the right kind of attention

with their food and drinks. Goodfellas, an Italian restaurant in

Benaulim could be your only place in the vicinity for authentic

Italian cuisine. Soul Soufflé too has been constantly changing

things on the menu and on the entertainment front to offer

a fresh experience. Reynold Abranches, owner, Soul Soufflé,

says, “We promote independent artistes and bands that are

breaking through with music that is their own. We pair that

with a few DJs and create a curated thematic experience. We

also host ‘Flashback Fridays’ where we get retro bands and

DJs together for one long night of dancing.”

Speaking about the overall comparison of South vs North,

Reynold feels that the bad roads, footpaths overridden with

hawkers and pick pockets, overloaded parking bays, etc

make the whole experience a little chaotic for those driving

25 km away for a quick dinner and drinks. On a parting note,

Reynold says, “I believe there is a small audience in the North

that now wants to get away from the hustle. Unless people

are headed to clubs, the South has options that are popping

up all over - ones that will make your weekend a treat without

any other hassles. We haven't replaced the quintessential

‘trip to Baga’ that's on every tourist’s mind yet, but slowly and

steadily we’re getting there.”