Both Guadalajara branches of the restaurant Goa, one a half block from Avenida Chapultepec and the other in the slightly more outlying Jardines del Bosque area, are fairly well established in this city.
But it wasn’t long ago — just about 10 years — that Indian cooking, known for its plethora of spicy, sometimes hot, sauces and its tendency toward vegetarianism — was virtually unknown here.
That started to change when Vijay Chaudhary, originally from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, made his way to Mexico after finishing four-years of higher education in Lucerne, Switzerland, which included study of hotel management and a wide array of cuisines. Soon, in 2006, Chaudhary joined forces with another Indian who had been a classmate in Switzerland, Raj Singh, a native of Uttarakhand state.
The two founded Goa on Avenida Lopez Cotilla in Guadalajara, not far from the U.S. Consulate. Goa was virtually the first Indian restaurant in town, other than an earlier one in upscale Colonia Providencia, which had closed after doing business for just a year.
The partners designed a menu that aimed to be authentically Indian while still appealing to Mexican tastes. But they included a number of vegetarian dishes, a marked departure from Mexico’s meat-focused cuisine. During those first years in business, Singh also founded and established the menu of a second local Indian restaurant, although he later separated from it
But the desire for expansion received new impetus in 2011 when yet another Indian friend and classmate from Switzerland, Rakesh Lohan, arrived in Guadalajara and joined the Goa venture. The arrival of Lohan, originally from the state of Haryana, prompted the opening of a new branch — Goa Niños Heroes, as it was called — situated about three kilometers or two miles west of the original restaurant. The branch also seated about 40 and used Goa’s signature decor — brilliant hues, hanging cloth lanterns visible from the street and Indian art.
The menu was similar to the flagship restaurant, with some variations — about ten appetizers or soups, 22 main courses made with chicken or meat, ten with prawns or tilapia, 14 vegetarian dishes, six biryani (rice) main courses, popular side dishes such as tandoor-oven-baked naan (bread) and basmati rice, and seven prepared beverages, with and without alcohol, such as Mango Lassi (a yogurt drink) and the popular Bollywood, made with red wine, lemon juice, fresh pureed strawberries and sparkling water.
With Lohan’s input, the trio of chefs redoubled their efforts to educate Mexicans about Indian food, installing a small library of books in Spanish near the bar.
“Americans and Canadians are familiar with us and they and Indians working here make up about five percent of our customers. But the other 95 percent are Mexican,” he said.
While many Mexicans enjoy liberal amounts of chile, Lohan noted, “they are sometimes afraid to try Indian food. They don’t know it’s really a good cuisine and not as spicy as you think.”
“They’re only garnish,” Lohan explained when setting before a patron two vegetarian dishes decorated with long, thin, dried, hot-looking chiles. But when he saw the eyes of that chile wimp tear up when eating the Paneer Tikka Masala (crispy panela cheese with bell peppers and onions, 120 pesos), he apologetically offered yogurt.
“This is moderately spiced,” he explained, “but you can order it however you want, hot or mild.” Still, despite the tears, the patron raved about the flavor of the sauce, and noted that the second dish — Dahl Makhani (lentils with butter, 110 pesos) — was mild.
Indian food, Lohan underscored, is about lots of spices besides chile. Although many of them can be purchased in Mexico (at Guadalajara’s Abastos market or in Mexico City), some have to be imported from India, sometimes via the United States.
“All our dishes, even if you order ten, have different gravies, so you never feel like you are eating the same thing,” Lohan continued. Even if many of the gravies are based on tomato and onion, they use other key ingredients and a variety of spices.
A good example is Goa’s most popular dish — Butter Chicken (yes, in English) — which uses a fresh-tomato-based sauce with cream, cashew paste, fenugreek, honey and “a secret masala (spice mixture),” Singh said.
Many other key ingredients used in the cuisine at Goa, including rice and lentils, also have to be imported.
In addition, the partners specially select Goa’s meat, Singh noted. “Chicken of the quality we use costs three times what they charge at Abastos. We usually get lamb and beef from New Zealand, sold to us by a man from Zapotlanejo who only sells to select restaurants.”
To achieve the desired taste, the partners have trained local cooks (with the exception of the chef at Goa Niños Heroes, who comes by way of a Hilton hotel in India).
“Now I personally cook only new dishes,” Lohan explained. “But I normally taste each dish before it goes to the customer. We don’t want the cooks to do any improvising. We know how it should taste.”
The quality control of Goa’s founders was evident the night I visited, when a honey vendor stopped by. Singh opened the container and sniffed the honey before deciding to buy it.
Similarly, Goa’s four desserts are handcrafted by the chefs: pistachio, mango and strawberry Kulfi (ice cream), as well as Gajar Halwah (similar to the Arabic word halvah), a pudding of carrots and almonds (each 65 pesos).
While Mexicans may need educating about Indian cuisine, one veritable customer magnet is the video screen near Goa’s bar, featuring music and dance videos from “Bollywood,” (so called because the former Bombay, now named Mumbai, is the entertainment capital of India). They are intricately choreographed, fast paced extravaganzas that come from individual singers or from Bollywood movies. Some Goa patrons comment on Trip Advisor, where the restaurant is favorably rated (with 51 of 61 reviews calling it excellent or very good), that they were barely able to drag themselves away from the videos, even though, as Lohan notes, the sound is kept moderate in case some customers find the videos jarring.
More reviewers, however, mention the “personal flair” of Goa’s owners as the biggest draw.
Lohan mentioned that the kitchen is always open to customers who want to take a peek. “We just finished remodeling at Lopez Cotilla, which included the kitchen, bathrooms and main dining area.”
In addition, Avenida Lopez Cotilla emerged last fall from major remodeling, Lohan ruefully recalled, and while it resulted in a lovely, pedestrian-friendly street, it torpedoed Goa’s business for three months.
Goa López Cotilla, Av. López Cotilla 1520-A, Colonia Americana, between Avenidas Marsella and Chapultepec, two blocks from U.S. consulate, Guadalajara, (33) 3615-6173. Goa Niños Heroes, 2958 Avenida Niños Heroes at Firmamento, Colonia Bosque de Jardines, four blocks east of glorieta Estampida (Niños Heroes and Lopez Mateos), (33) 3121-1248. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 1 p.m. to midnight; Sunday 1-7 p.m., Monday 4-10 p.m. Credit cards accepted. Street and structure/lot parking near Goa Lopez Cotilla costs from 20 to 40 pesos (occasionally free) with assisted parking on Friday and Saturday. Free parking on adjacent streets is more plentiful near Goa Niños Heroes. Website: www.goagdl.com/pages/home.