During our time in India, we decided to spend five days indulging in the Goan lifestyle, by relaxing on Patnem Beach in Southern Goa. With a population of over a billion people in India, we expected Patnem Beach to be hectic and packed with people. Yet, to our surprise it was peacefully relaxing and a perfect place to slowly immerse ourselves in the Indian culture and cuisine. It was during this time that we discovered a lovely little restaurant on the beach called Shivas Place.

Our accommodation for this part of our journey was at the Fun-Tastic Beach Huts. Although the bed in the hut was comfortable, the remainder of the hut was a little worse for wear. Basically, you are roughing it for five days. No real shower, no hot water, no toilet paper and a toilet that doesn’t flush properly, without pouring water from a bucket into the bowl. Yet, it is not the worst place we’ve stayed in.

The Fun-Tastic Beach Huts don’t offer breakfast or any food options, so you must discover the various restaurants, cafes and bars along the short stretch of beach. With cows, dogs and few tourists wandering along the beach it’s not hard to relax. Additionally, you are not pestered by people trying to sell their knick knacks, souvenirs and services. Once you say no they move on, no questions asked and no harassment or begging.

It wasn’t too hard to select Shivas Place as our preferred option for our meals. The food is good, the prices are cheap, and we suffered no ill effects from consuming their delicious food.

Honestly, there is nothing fancy about Shivas Place. It is a beach hut restaurant. It’s not elegantly decorated, with stylish furniture. It is basically a place to relax with old wooden tables, with bamboo chairs.

Shivas Place is run by a young family and a group of dedicated employees who spend their days talking to their customers and allowing guests to use their day beds free of charge. We spent many days relaxing in the sun, drinking cocktails and watching the sun go down.

In the evening like many other restaurants along the beach Shivas Place sets up a fresh fish stand, where you can select your fish to be cooked the way you like it. Our first meal was a tandoori spiced Sea Bass, which was wonderful. This was great value at INR600 (AUD$12.00). The evening meal offers an extended happy hour with two for one cocktails, which turns out to be a good night.

For our first morning we tried their breakfast menu which comes with fresh fruit juice and a cup of coffee or tea. I selected the traditional English breakfast with poached eggs, which went down a treat.

Over the next few days we swam, walked up and down the beach, sun bathed and ate to our hearts content. We had the privilege of trying many of Shivas’ Indian menu options, which included Chicken Tikka Masala, Dal Makhani and Rogan Josh to name a few. All were delicious, but I couldn’t go past the flavour of the Chicken Tikka Masala. Absolutely superb!

On our final night we decided to splurge a little and paid INR600(AUD$30) for a seafood platter for two. The platter consisted of a whole Sea Bass, Calamari and Various Prawns served with salad and hot chips. The platter had a touch of Tandoori flavouring which was fantastic and well worth the money. Shivas Place can make up a platter just for you depending on how much you’d like to spend.

Patnem Beach was a pleasant surprise. Quieter than most Indian tourist beaches, it was a good relaxing stay. Shivas Place made us feel welcome and at home over the five days we stayed there. The food was excellent and with an extended two for one cocktail happy hour we had some good evenings. So, if you are heading to Patnem Beach in Southern Goa, than stop in at Shivas Place for a good meal and tell them, Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Additional Information for Shivas Place