Black Sheep Bistro One of the most exciting new restaurants, this buzzing favourite spins brilliant new dishes from rigorously sourced local ingredients, and places equal emphasis on delicious hand-crafted cocktails and an extensive wine menu that emphasises Indian vintages. Don&rsquot miss the Goa sausage starter, with its addictive kicker of divine dark chocolate, or the slow-cooked lamb Osso Bucco. Dinner for two (not including drinks) Rs 1,500. www.blacksheepbistro.in
Bodega Hidden away inside the courtyard of a beautifully renovated aristocratic Goan home (now the Sunaparanta arts centre) on the Altinho hill above Panjim, this superb café serves up sandwiches, soups, salads and astonishingly good cakes and cupcakes. All these are the handiwork of Vandana Naique, who spent years honing her trade in New York. Her obsession for quality shows throughout. Lunch for two Rs 800. www.facebook.com/bodegagoa
Palacio do Deao Less than an hour&rsquos drive from the Dabolim airport, another world opens up in the agricultural hinterland of Quepem. Here, in the marvellous heritage Palacio do Deao, the diligent Celia da Gama researches and re-interprets classic Goan food using the best local ingredients in a farm-to-table prix-fixe lunch that compares with the best you&rsquoll experience anywhere. Incredible value for money at Rs 700 per head (drinks extra). Reservations required. www.palaciododeao.com
Go With the Flow Pick the right evening, and this beautifully located restaurant at the tip of Baga Bay overflows with football fever. That&rsquos because chef Guto Souza is Brazilian, and his menu features many of his country&rsquos specialities, and the hometown FC Goa team is heavily Brazilian. You get the picture now try the dishes that bring them back every couple of days. Superb steaks, pork belly (imported from Belgium), sushi, luscious home-made cheesecake. Dinner for two Rs 3,500 (drinks extra). www.gowiththeflowgoa.com
Baba&rsquos Wood Café This restaurant can exist only in Goa. Maria Grazia Raschi operates what can only be described as a temple to real Italian cooking beautiful hand-made pastas, deeply flavourful olive oils, imported salumi and cheeses. The wood-oven pizzas are fantastic, the ravioli worth driving across the state to sample. Don&rsquot forget the gelatos. Meal for two Rs 2,000 www.facebook.com/Babaswoodcafe
Bomra&rsquos The best Burmese restaurant in the world The best restaurant in India These labels have been flying around the rocket-speed hands of chef Bawmra Jap ever since he opened his &ldquomodern Burmese&rdquo restaurant a decade ago in a modest location on the tourist strip in Candolim. Now a must-visit for foodies from around the world. Meal for two Rs 3,000. www.bomras.com
Horseshoe This singular bistro gem is the equivalent of a one-man orchestra. Chef Vasco Silveira creates virtuosic renditions of classic Luso-Indian cuisine all by himself in a spotless kitchen&mdashyou can watch him ablur, through a window behind the bar. This is the best version of bacalhau (the iconic dried cod of Iberia) you will taste this side of the Mediterranean, but don&rsquot miss his beans-and-pork feijoada either. Meal for two Rs 1,500. 91-832-2431788
GunpowderDelhi&rsquos loss is Goa&rsquos gain. Once a Hauz Khas favourite, this showcase for South Indian non-vegetarian specialities now shares space with the People Tree store in a converted old house in Assagao. It&rsquos a unique menu that&rsquos worth working your way through on repeat visits Coorg-style pork, Kerala-style beef, Madras chicken curry, egg appams, and that deadly gunpowder to accompany everything. Dinner for two (without alcohol) Rs 2,000. www.facebook.com/gunpowdergoa
Bhatti Village Those who bemoan the demise of great Goan food have probably never been to this restaurant, tucked into a charming location far along a bylane of Nerul. There is no menu, because the owner Patrick D&rsquoSouza knows what has come fresh to the market and what he wants to present to you on the day. But worry not, the selection will be mind-bogglingly vast including unbeatable seafood, and mouth-watering curries. Meal for two Rs 900 91-9822184103
Cantare Just a few minutes&rsquo drive away from the main tourism strip of North Goa is Saligao, ancestral village of great Goan artist Francis Newton Souza and the beloved singer Lorna Cordeiro. Nestled inside, this atmospheric lounge spills with music and bonhomie late into the night. Meal for two Rs 900 91-832-2409461