Indian tourists beware… June 3, 2008
Posted by ruz26 in Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized.Tags: Baga, Calangute, Goa, Tourism
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Goa:A Travel Advisory
For all those of you who thought that Goa was a land of hospitable people..you’re right!
But then every silver cloud has a dark lining..
Let me put it like this…
There is this small restaurant close to Calangute on the beginning of Baga Beach Road called “INFANTARIA”.
If you are a Foreigner, chances are that you may get off easily.. but God help you if you are dark-skinned(read Indian/Asian).Chances are that you will be greeted with a cold non-existant welcome when you enter. The first thing that strikes a new visitor on entering the restaurant is the utter indifference shown by the waiters.After you succeed in catching the waiter’s eye,once you have settled down,consider yourself lucky in getting a menu card soon. The waiters all look like they have either just returned from a funeral or are going to one.
If anyone succeeds in getting the waiters to even display a ghost of a smile,I’m sure this feat will appear the next day in the local dailies.
It is exactly such an attitude that makes an Indian feel unwanted and ashamed in his own country.Probably the Portuguese hangover has not left the employees and owners of “INFANTARIA”.When we asked another local about the reason for this attitude, we were told that they(the owners) are so busy raking in the moolah that they have no time for social niceties.
All this at the expense of customers like you and me.
So. the bottom line is “BE WARNED. YOU ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK”. If you are indifferent to such attitudes then hats off to you.
I was also shocked by the terrible service offered in a number of restaurants in the Baga calangute area of goa.
Deciding to explore further a field I was delighted to find a restaurant called the Sublime in anjuna..
WOW !! the service was impeccible, the food divine and the atmosphere truly wonderful. Be sure to book a day or two in advance as the word has definatly got out about this gem.
The bluebird in vagator a sweet restaurant serving french cuisine was also a great find. The owner is one of the sweetest folks i have had the pleasure to meet in goa.
regards nayana
You are absolutely right… It gives a wonderful State a really bad name… But then commercialisation has affected the people of Goa and rising prices have done their bit in contributing to this. But as the saying goes..” If you can’t stand the heat don’t go into the kitchen”.
I would call it greed and apathy that have attributed to this, rather than the rising prices.
Every country in the world dreams of having a haelthy tourism industry, but to keep it, means to offer good service. If there are none then it is the states responsibiity to invest in this.
I do not believe Goa has taken responsibility. They have seen a rise in tourism and instead of beign thankful, training their youth in these fields to develop this huge industry, they have instead jsut pocketed the money and left the untrained, unprofessional service providers to keep this money maker alive and sustainable.
Kerala is a different story altogether. They are doing all they can to train their youth, and develop their industry and are doing a wonderful job. The service was provided witha genune heart. the people there were happy you were in Kerala and it really made a difference.
I know for a fact that there are restaurants in Goa, where they have two menu cards; one for the Indian tourists and one for the foreigners. When we came to know this, we asked the owner, a Catholic lady, who replied,” Foreigners feel if the prices are low then the service/food must be below par. At the same time, if we increase prices the Indian Tourists won’t come. So we are forced to keep two menu cards.” A startling revelation indeed…
As regards professionalism in the Tourist business in Goa, the bottom line is there isn’t any professionalism. On every trip we make to Goa, we get hounded by young guys on motorcycles asking us to take part in some time-sharing scheme run by various 3-4 star hotels. It’s all very irritating and and an invasion on our privacy when walking along the road. A thoroughly undesirable experience, if you aske me.