When people talk about Goa, they think about picture-perfect beaches framed by coconut palms. Others come here to party with free-flowing booze. It’s perhaps India’s most popular beach destination attracting over 10 million visitors—both domestic and foreign—in a year. In monsoons, Goa comes to life, and you can trek the interior jungles to swim in rain-fed natural pools. When balmy summers beckon every March, cashews flourish, and Goa gets ready for its urrak (the first distillation of cashew apple juice) season.
But hidden behind all the sun, sea, and sand images is an epic culinary scene across Goa found in small cartr, roadside stalls, home kitchens anchored in its villages, and modern restaurants redefining traditional culinary heritage. Add to that is a brewing coffee culture championed by both homegrown baristas and newcomers to the state who have fallen in love with the Goan way of life.
One thing though: if you want to travel across Goa, you’ll mostly have to get on a motorbike or rely on public buses. I usually split my trip and base myself in three locations: North Goa, the capital Panjim (Panaji), and South Goa. Wherever you go though, you can expect bakeries doubling as coffee bars, planet-forward movements, in-house roasteries, and seed-to-cup initiatives highlighting Indian-grown coffee.
The Sprudge guide to coffee in Goa will take you to five of the best spots you shouldn’t miss. We’ll start with Goa’s capital Panjim before heading to its popular hangouts.
Greenr
Once a hub of Portuguese colonial rulers for more than 450 years, the Goan capital Panjim has it all: there are streets lined up with historic churches, fresh produce markets, and local breakfast spots. Part of the old city is Fontainhas, a UNESCO Heritage Site and Goa’s Latin Quarter. Vibrant, preserved old buildings with their red tile roofs and beautiful porches dot Fontainhas’ cobbled pathways, and some of those are now turned into boutique hotels, cafes, and restaurants.
Right in the center of this lively neighborhood smacked between generational bakeries and taverns is Greenr. Housed in a centuries-old colonial building, you’ll see Greenr’s charm as soon as you enter through its arched doorway flanked by an iron gate. The cafe’s ethos are inspired by California’s plant-based movement, so most of the menu is vegan and vegetarian-friendly. At their “health” bar adorned with houseplants, you’ll see baristas busy at work. Order from their extensive menu that includes millet milk cappuccinos, lattes flavored with housemade peanut butter, or pour-overs made with small batch Arabica infused with fresh blueberries and cardamom.
The food menu is equally outstanding, with tofu tacos and delicious vegan berry cakes that I ordered during my visit. Everything about Greenr is communal-driven, which means that you’ll find plenty of things to do here: like playing Jenga with your friends or making use of their coloring pencils and drawing sheets. While Greenr opened only recently in Goa, the brand has several cafes in the Indian capital Delhi and the bustling megapolis Mumbai.
Babka Goa
North Goa is always busy, but when I go there in the quieter monsoon season that turns the state into lush greenery, I usually stay close to Anjuna for two reasons. One: you’ll still find cozy family-run Goan homestays with character. Two: There are dozens of trendy coffee spots, cafes, and dining venues that are still open during the low season. Babka is one of those, but it’s seriously beautiful with graffiti-covered exteriors and pink flowers on every nook and cranny.
Owners Anant Singh and Karishma Pursnani call themselves self-taught bakers and moved to Goa several years ago to embrace the state’s slow-phased lifestyle, and along the way opened Babka in 2019. This part coffee shop, part patisserie now serves loaves of daily baked breads, bagels, salads, and chocolate tarts, along with specialty coffee. A multi-roaster coffee shop, Babka’s coffee comes from Halflight Coffee Roasters, the Goa-based G-Shot and community-driven Kokoro Coffee. They also often collaborate with coffee communities and handpick beans from farms in Chikmagalur—a hill station known as India’s coffee country—to host sampling and brewing sessions.
There are single-origin medium roasts and house blends on espresso as well as manually brewed V60 pour-overs and AeroPress on offer. For something hearty, opt for their cortado; and those with a sweet tooth can get Babka’s espresso and chocolate frappe. Coffee aside, I also love their hot chocolate drinks, herbal teas, and banoffee shakes.
Mon Petit Frère
Not so far from the expansive sandy beach in South Goa’s Colva is Mon Petit Frère, a rustic little French bakery with a thatched roof and a few benches scattered in their shaded garden. The cafe blends perfectly into the surrounding palm groves and Colva’s village life. And it’s now one of the area’s popular brunch spots, so you are in for some excellent pesto sandwiches, Turkish-style poached eggs and fluffy banana walnut pancakes served with organic honey. There’s also meaty burgers and honey-glazed french toast to pair with a great drinks menu. While you are there, keep an eye out for delicious home baked goodies, like their orange cakes, hot cross buns, or chocolate muffins.
Mon Petit Frère sources their roasts from Nagpur-based Corridor Seven Coffee Roasters, who are all about championing Indian specialty coffee. With a series of drinks like iced americano, affogato, caffe mocha, and espresso tonics as well as cold-pressed juices, shakes, and masala chai blends, there’s something for everyone here. If that’s not enough, they’ve recently expanded into a bar that drags until well into the night. It’s a work in progress but you can already expect great cocktails and crispy crumbed prawns served for sides.
G-Shot Coffee
My Goan friends tell me that Assagao was once a sleepy little hamlet in North Goa full of colorful residences with their beautifully manicured gardens. That’s no longer the case as Assagao today is an upscale neighborhood home to luxury boutique villas, contemporary Indian restaurants, boutiques, and of course, coffee shops. Walking through the village’s streets that are nicknamed the “Beverly hills of Goa,” you’ll come across half a dozen places whipping up a cup of coffee. Still, nothing is as good as G-Shot—it’s located in the same block as Vinayak, a local Goan restaurant where people queue up at lunch.
Part of what makes G-Shot special is the coffee guru Siddharth Munjal, who’s also their resident roaster. The blends include fruity and caramel medium-light roasts from Ratnagiri Estate, a South Indian coffee farm and organic Kenyan coffee grown in Chikmagalur’s Hoysala Estate with both chocolatey and citrus notes. There’s always home-baked apple pie, fig and date cakes, eggless nut pastry, and carrot almond cakes to go with their coffee. Don’t forget to try their excellent hot chocolate blends made with organic cacao sourced from tribal farmers in Kerala in South India.
Coffee and food aside, G-Shot is also quite inviting with the fan-cooled airy space surrounded by greenery and zen vibes, so it’s definitely become one of my top spots to while away the time in Goa.
Ruby’s
Ruby’s is not just another cookie-cutter coffee shop, but an institution, a laboratory. They now have several outlets across Goa, but if you find yourself in the popular Calangute-Candolim oceanside stretch, hunt for their laidback spot behind a vibrant blue gate. It’s kind of a speakeasy brew bar as there’s no signboard outside, but it’s in the same location as build3 coliving space, and you can WhatsApp the staff for directions.
A common gap in the coffee industry is that there’s often little to no connection between the farmers and consumers, and Ruby’s is all about building that relationship. The team travels across India to meet small-scale coffee farmers, also teaching growers about processing and brewing coffee as they mostly never get to taste their own beans. These ethos are reflected in their cafe, where you’ll see every step of this farm-to-cup movement, with more information on farmers, roasters, and cupping notes of each blend.
At the coffee bar, you’ll find their seasonal baristas ridiculously passionate about the work they do; and they are always up for a quick chat about their roasts, origin, and the science behind coffee. Except for the classics and hand brews, you can also get nitro cold brews, slow-drip hazelnut lattes, and orange espresso tonics.
Zinara Rathnayake is a freelance journalist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Read more Zinara Rathnayake on Sprudge.
Photos provided by the cafes, used with permission
