Hosa Goa: A Love-Letter to The Coastline Now in Gurugram

You know what they say about restaurants: it’s all location, location and location. And as far as the newest entrant to the restaurant scene in Gurugram goes, Hosa Goa has got this down to pat. Hosa means ‘new’ in Kannada, an apt name for a restaurant that stands out in the milieu of steel and glass patios, with its green banana leaves and beach décor in the warm winter sun. Snapping up a premium spot at Gurugram’s One Horizon Centre, the restaurant that has made the spoilt-for-choice Goa foodies sit up, has entered Delhi with a bang, close to its sister concern, Comorin. Insider’s information in fact has it, that Hosa had to travel all the way to Gurugram to open its second spot, because no one gets a reservation at Comorin anymore. (As someone who has waited for an opening, I can confirm in the affirmative.)

When we arrived in the middle of pre-Diwali buzz to the location, we were immediately greeted with the warmth of marigold flowers and banana leaves at Hosa’s entrance, a pleasant departure from the sterile steel and glass facades of the rest of the buildings. The outside sit-out, done in white and blue, with the warm autumn sun filtering in, provided pleasant company to our delicious drinks, house made kokum sodas.

Rohini Kapur, the designer behind the award-winning Goa location has also designed the interiors for this one. The bright indoor area is strikingly different from the beachy patio, with tropical elements tying both the places together. The restaurant can accommodate up to 90 guests, with a spacious bar, which makes sense, as Hosa is known as much for its food as its creative cocktails.

The cocktail menu is divided into sections, from Tall and Fizzy, to Short and Boozy and Tikki. Each section has been designed for different parts of the day. Our best takeaways included the Spicy Neer, with chilli, tequila, grapefruit, clarified yoghurt and ginger ale, which had haf of a picante’s ingredients but tasted very different and the banana leaf martini, made with vodka or gin, banana, banana leaf tincture and vermouth.

To accompany our tropical drinks, we snacked on our appetisers – a cracked spicy potato with cauliflower puree, their take on aloo gobhi, the best toddy shop prawns that money will buy you in Delhi NCR, and a light salad made with gourd, with a cashewnut dressing that made for a good bite!

Some favourites such as the Elaneer Pepper fry, tender coconut tossed in pepper fry masala served with akki roti (a rice flour based flatbread) have a presence in the menu here as well.

For mains, we stuck to trusty biryani served with Chicken Fry and Raita, and an innovative Aubergine steak, in a sesame gravy, with coin porottas. Other noteworthy options that were popular include Bun and Stew, Kari Dosa, or the Madurai Lamb Shank with Potato Noodles, which tempted us, but we saved it for the next time.

We were way too full for dessert, but chef surprised us with a three-way platter, which had Filter Coffee Tiramisu, their take on the classic dessert, a delicate Coconut Snow, and a Mango Cheesecake that we ended up polishing off till the platter was clean.

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