The year 2019 came to its end and now it is time to choose the best café of the past decade in South Goa. Not counting the beach restaurants makes it a bit easier thing to do.
The winner is a small cafe in Benaulim called German Bakery, which has existed for as long as I can remember. A restaurant with the same name and with a bigger size has also operated in North Goa at least one decade ago, but this article tells about that small cafe in the village of Benaulim in South Goa.
German Bakery is a great place to go if you need some change for the Indian masalas and Goan bebincas, as you will find Western cakes, buns, breads and pastries over there.
That modest café German Bakery has four tables and chairs alongside Benaulim’s grocery store, and the tables are almost always full. Still, one can always find room, at least after a little waiting. A grocery store is located on the other side of the café and a pharmacy in the other side.
German Bakery has clients for every occasion, but most often you hear English and Hindi spoken. The cafe is about 700m from the Benaulim beach and approximately the same distance from the main road and Maria Hall, which is a well known building in that region.
The baked products are manufactured elsewhere, and they are not spoiled with price and neither will they spoil the tourist’s stomach, if moderately eaten. In the café itself they make tasty vegetable sandwiches, ginger-lemon-honey tea, omelette and juice made of freshly squeezed fruits, among others.
Their customer service is good and it is amazing, how they cope with their friendly customer service with smile in their face day in day out, regardless of the weather. They must be really doing what they like to do.
Even though the café is modest in appearance, the level of hygiene is mostly good, considering that there is constant traffic around with passing cars, scooters, cows and dogs.
The endless stream of tourists and locals will keep the viewer, the café customer, interested, and no television is needed. Not even a friend I dare to say.
Occasionally, an exciting addition to the customer is brought by sudden power outages, which, without a warning, darken the environment for a moment until the lights come up with the backup generators in the near-by shop. Little bit later, the electricity in the whole village starts working again.
Although gluten-free products were already available in Goa‘s local stores one year back, German Bakery had not yet invested in them, at least in January 2019. However, for a gluten-free diet, there was tea and coffee, fruit juices and omelettes available in the café.
My absolute favorite in the German Bakery was their ginger-lemon-honey tea, and I recommend you to try it, though I’m still not sure if honey should be mixed with hot water or not. But it tastes good anyway.
Couple of walls by the German Bakery served also as bulletin boards promoting eg. local concerts, yoga classes and more. INDIVUE has also been seen there.
If you’re planning to travel to Goa, check out my visual travel guide to Goa in the link!
You can also read about this café in Goa in my Finnish blog here
INDIVUE - travel & art 
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