Hosa Goa is no (south) Indian Accent!

Curry Leaf ice cream to the top left, ragi molten cake to the top right,  coconut ice cream in the lower row.

Did the headline baffle you? It was meant to. 

Let me give some context to it in case you are living under a rock. Or belong to the majority who do not follow happenings in the Indian fine dining space.

Hosa is a restaurant in Goa which is operated by EHV International. The much-feted Indian Accent is the flagship brand of this hospitality group. Chef Manish Mehrotra is the genius behind this. 

People referred to Hosa as the ‘South Indian Indian Accent’ when it opened. Having eaten at the Indian Accent a few times, I was keen to see what Hosa was all about.  Whether it was indeed a southern version of Indian Accent and, if it was, how it did compare with Avartana from ITC Hotels which operates in this space.

I got an opportunity to do so when I was invited to attend the Bangala pop-up at Hosa and experience the food at Fireback which is a Thai restaurant from the EVH group. I met the founder/ chairman of EHV, Rohit Khattar, while there. He told me that Hosa does not fall in the Indian Accent segment. That it is meant to provide good food in a relaxed environment. The old Goan Portuguese bungalow in Siolim which housed Hosa add to this vibe. He said that the food that was rooted in the home kitchens of the South and was presented in a fun, contemporary format, he added.

This got my guard up. I am a traditionalist. I am not a big fan of the ‘we will make Indian cuisine modern and match international standards,’ school. I believe that there is a lot to showcase about our cuisine without having to reinvent it. The word Hosa meant new I was told. I was not sure what to expect.

With Chef Suresh DC of Hosa

I met Hosa’s ever smiling Brand Chef, Suresh DC. He said that his menu was based on the food he had grown up in Bengaluru (he is a Tamilian) on, as well as the food that he had come across while travelling across the south before designing the menu at Hosa. 

The meal that followed turned one to be of the most memorable ones that I have had in recent times. The food was excellent. The contemporariness of the food was more in terms of the presentation or the combinations than in terms of changing the DNA of the dishes. Chef Suresh had brought in a bit of his culinary expertise to add his touch to the traditional dishes such as thokku, pongal and varavals but the dishes were definitely recognisable unlike what is the case of high end ‘modern/ progressive’ restaurants where there could be a layer of gobi in the centre of a large dough sphere served as a gobi paratha.

According to Khattar, the idea was to keep the food more affordable compared to that at Indian Accent My young friend and lunchmate, Parth Bajaj, who is a popular 27-year-old baking and travel influencer, raised his eyebrows sceptically on hearing this. Perceptions of price points are relative of course. A bit of back of the envelope calculations told me that an order of 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 desserts would work out to be much cheaper than what the basic tasting menu for 2 costs in Indian Accent. This is keeping alcohol aside. 

Here’s what we had in the order in which I liked them:

Trumpet mushroom varuval: The meaty bite of the grilled and spice spiced mushroom, which was served on a creamy ghee redolent mushroom pongal with a parmesan topping, was sensuous and sensational. I forgot my manners and licked the serving plate clean.

Trumpet mushroom veruval

Curry leaf cured snapper: Chilled kokum rasa (a thicker version of sol kadi) was poured on the ceviche made with locally sourced red snapper. The combination of the chilled rasa and the fresh ceviche made to a soothing dish that was the perfect antidote to the blazing sun outside. Sol kadi is popular across the Konkan belt including in Goa, Karawar and Mangalore apart from in the Malvan coast of Maharashtra.

Curry leaf cured snapper

Mutton pepper roast: A very tender and refined version of the Kerala toddy shop beef sukka (done with goat meat here), served along with a fluffy and pillowy, mildly sweet, bun parota, was pure love. The ‘bun porrota’ is a a Malabar parrota, which chef Suresh calls a ‘bun’ as his version is chubbier and thicker than the average Malabar porrota.

Mutton pepper roast

Prawn Iguru: A beautiful, spicy, juicy prawn preparation which is native to Andhra Pradesh chef told me. When I say ‘spicy,’ I mean the mix of multiple masalas which added oomph to the dish. I did not mean ‘hot.’ It went well with the crunchy prawn papad (cracker) that it was served with. As it would with neer dosa or appam.

Prawn Iguru

Young jackfruit thokku: Subtly spiced unripe meaty jackfruit which was served with soft finger millet bread and the combination was meant to be had as tacos. It worked very well and I am sure that it would be a hit in Mexico as well. 

Incidentally I had watched a series on tacos on Netflix which said that new forms of tacos based on immigrant cuisines are quite popular in Mexico. This makes you question whether there is any such thing as an ‘authentic’ tacos.

Young jackfruit thokku

Nellai chicken curry: The curry seemed familiar with nothing extraordinary about it, till the chef added soft-boiled eggs to it. The runny yolk merged with the gravy and added a lot of oomph to it.

Wild mushroom sukka” The mushrooms were served in mini appams. The taste of the appam dominated that of the mushrooms which was a dampener. The appams were great but the hero element did not shine through.

Wild mushroom sukka

Almond 65: This did not work for me. Crunchy, spicy almonds were served on a bed of warm curd rice. I found this disconcerting as I have never had curd rice which is above room temperature before. The pomelo mix further added to the mushiness of the dish. The almonds were overshadowed by the curd rice and the pomelo mix and reduced it to something like the appendix in the human body. Redundant. 

I must add that the Almond 65 was Parth’s favourite dish by far of the meal. Goes to show why you should not give much credence to reviews as two people could react very differently to the same dish.

I would more almonds on less of curd rice and pomelo and ideally not served as hot as the heat culled the spirit and crunchiness of the almonds.

Parth loved the Almond 65.

I tried to avoid dessert as I was late for my flight and am supposed to avoid dessert, but Chef Suresh insisted I try a few. The coconut ice cream was creamy and fresh, and the ragi molten cake with ice cream and jaggery biscuit was full-bodied and would break your willpower even if you did not want to have dessert.

What wowed me was the curry leaf ice cream with its delicate and intricate flavours. Chef Suresh told me that it took him 2 years to develop. I was not surprised. This was a work of art.

That dosa was so good. Worth missing a flight over, good.

The joker in the pack was the conical dosa. Chef Suresh insisted that I try it even though I said that I was getting late for my flight and what could be special about a dosa? It turned out to be so crunchy and delicious that I ended up taking quite a few bites and not just one. 

What happened to my flight? The counter was closed by the time I reached the airport. The lady manning the Vistara counter very sweetly checked me in without any fuss. Food karma is good karma.

How would I sum up the food? I would say that it is good, enjoyable food that does make you intellectualise much. Hosa takes its name from the word ‘new’ and it offers a refreshed touch to traditional dishes without changing their core construct. Nothing in Hosa is really reingineered, reimagined or recreated, and that is what makes it different from the Indian Accents…or Avartanas of the world, two restaurants which do modern Indian food the best in my opinion. 

Do I have any suggestions? Yes, please keep a nice masala chhaas on the menu.  Not all of us like cocktails. Or mocktails!

Amrit Grewal, Parth Bajaj, Chef Suresh, Rohit Khattar

I was hosted by EVM and DeTales communication.