Goa Portuguesa - Patrons

	The New York Times
	Mr. Kapil Dev declared "Goa Portuguesa Taste bud Connoisseur of the Century" Goa Portuguesa is distinctively the pioneering Mecca that introduced the authentic Goan and Portuguese cuisine for the Mumbaikars to relish and the person responsible for this is the Multifaceted Couple Dr. Suhas Awchat M.D. and Master Chef Deepa Awchat whose love for good and authentic food is very serious about maintaining the highest standard in service and food quality. The forever happening place Goa Portuguesa in Mumbai carries another important event with genuine cause. Shri. Kapil Dev, The Cricketer Of The Century & Chief Patron of Goa Portuguesa was felicitated as the "Goa Portuguesa Tastebud Connoisseur of the Century" in a function hosted by Dr. Suhas Awchat and Ms. Deepa Awchat. To mark the occasion Kapil feasted on all his favorite delicacies like 'Stuffed Crab', 'Mussels', 'King Prawns Curry' with goan rice and his preferred dessert 'Bibinca'. On the occasion, Dr. Suhas Awchat M.D. of Goa Portuguesa said, "This recognition highlights an important aspect about Kapil which is not known publicly." Deepa Awchat, CEO and Executives Chef added that Goa Portuguesa was started 15 years ago, and we grew each year with Kapil Dev's support and valuable suggestion on cuisine. What does Kapil Dev says about all this, "Good Food & Hope to Come Back Again & Again..... Goa Portuguesa ka jawab nahin!!" Dr. Suhas Awchat opening a branch of Goa Portuguesa in Delhi with Kapil Dev very soon and the official date will be announced soon.
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	The Times of India
	“Goa Portuguesa” refused to pay lip service to foolish foreign notions about Goan (fish curry, pork vindaloo, chicken cafreal). On offer is a rich and fertile appreciation of the three main wellsprings of Goan cuisine Hindu, Christian and Portuguesa – pure in some dishes, triumphantly cross-fertilized in others.Chefs and materials are authentic imports. The current master chef recently wielded a brilliant skillet in Panji. Main ingredients (nutty, unboiled Goan “red” rice; home-made vinegar; coconut and caju fenis; sausages; dried baby prawn and mackerel; green and red chillies) are flown in. The result: a menu a touch ambitious at first glance that reveals, on closer inspection, an eclectic and generous selection of Goan cuisine.The stuffed papad appetizers (veg and prawn) turned a neat trick I never get right at home. Crisp papad encasing scrumptious fillings, flavors beguilingly blended. The Portuguesa soup, caldo verde, which never fails as a starter at Goan Christian weddings, married finely pureed potato, cream spinach and seasonings in a smooth and evocative celebration. Hoping to lay the chef low, I ordered fresh Bombay duck stuffed with the crab. A Bombay duck is so sensitively put together, give it a dirty look and parts fall off. To debone one, stuff it with crab, then deep-fry the result without disaster is an art, which has ever eluded me. The chef passed with flying colors. Helped by Bombay duck caught on the very day and crab so fresh I’m sure it talked back in the kitchen.
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	The Express Magazine
	One of my favorite restaurants is tucked away in the heart of Mumbai-it’s called Goa Portuguesa. When I first visited it, I was warned that its food was over-hyped and over-spicy, and that its owner, Dr Suhas Awchat, MD, FRESH, was overpowering. Imagine, if the were not, Goa Portuguesa would be no different from the scores of Goan eateries that dot Mumbai. Safe, predictable and utterly boring If it weren’t for his embarrassing purple prose in the menu card and his way with the media. We wouldn’t really notice Goa Portuguesa at all.
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	Express Newsline
	Suhas is a character worth meeting, if just to be gifted with his visiting card. The card is a work of art. And I’ll say one thing for him; his heart is in the right place. He went for the idea, was real nice about keeping prices low and waived the room’s rental as well. The room itself was not exactly what I had in mind. But Suhas was such a sweetie and then there were other considerations. Geographically it was most desirable. Situated in Mahim, on an inner road, it meant easy accessibility for both ends of town. Being a suburbanite I am sensitive to the fact that we are often short-changed in the event business.
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	Saturday Times
	If you cut through all the hype, some of it native and ungrammatical, the bottom line is that the Goa Portuguesa restaurant at Mahim is basically a very good idea and it has helped popularize the concept of ethnic food in Bombay. It’s owner Dr. Sunny (Suhas) Awchat has a sunny and outgoing disposition which has made a lot of friends for him and the restaurant, but the real secret of Goa Portuguesa’s success is Suhas’s pretty customs officer wife, Deepa, who supervises the menu.It was a transformation full of risk for he was abandoning a respectable profession midstream for one which he had no qualifications. Fortunately he had aptitude, and he had his wife, Deepa. they both presented Bombay’s fish eating population with a very real and tantalizing choice. Goan cuisine is an interesting mix of many cultures with a huge dollop of spice and it can drive you crazy.
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	The Asian Age
	The restaurant has more to offer that just food. The ambience, atmosphere and locale all add up to the ultimate experience. And at Dr. Suhas Awchat’s Goa Portuguesa, the idea is to satiate all five sense, not just that of taste. Which means meal there leaves you with a sense of well being, a relaxed state of mind, relieved of stress. There’s a reason for this: Dr Awchat is a doctor of psychiatry and he has used his experience to create an experience that leaves the guest feeling good. Try his one-liners for instance. They’re not on the menu card, but unless you’ve split your sides laughing at his really had the Goa Portuguesa experience.
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	The Week

	On a map of Goa, brought out from America, besides all the places of interest a Goan restaurant had been marked out. “I too wanted to start a restaurant in Bombay that would be mentioned in the international map. It was then that we decided to start Goa Portuguesa.” The food is authentic and the ambiance typically Goan-right from the archway at the door to the brightly lit interiors complete with stained glass. There are also singers dishing out foot-tapping Goan numbers right at the table. To add to this air of informality there is Awchat, 35, cracking jokes, talking to the guests and making them feel special. His friendly attitude has rubbed off on his waiters too. They are lively, very hospitable, and many a times forcing guests to finish the rice and fish on the table. The menu card too begins with a letter from the host which starters by saying that “our five chefs have been smuggled from the five best hotels of Goa by my five Goan brothers-in-law:” It goes on to state that most of the raw material, spices and seafood are imported from my Goan mother-in-law.
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	Express Hotelier & Caterer

	“Many people from other states and abroad, who enjoyed the food at my outlet, requested me to start restaurants in their cities, but since it is a very costly affair to set up a restaurant, I opted for the franchise route,” says Dr. Awchat.

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