Panaji's food is the Goan-Portuguese hybrid at its richest: vindaloo (from the Portuguese vinho d'alhos, garlic-and-wine), pork sorpotel, prawn balchao, chicken xacuti, the fish curry-rice that is the daily lunch of most of the state, the dense slow-cooked beef bafat, and the inescapable bebinca layer cake for dessert. Pair with a bottle of Goan feni — cashew or coconut — or local Kings beer.
The atmospheric restaurants cluster in Fontainhas and São Tomé, in restored Portuguese houses with shaded verandas. The cheaper local eating is along 18th June Road and around the market, with thali joints serving fish curry-rice at lunchtime for very little money. The hotel and resort restaurants out at Miramar lean upmarket but rarely beat the city-centre kitchens for taste.