It was nearing midnight. Roy Menezes had just wrapped up a shoot in Goa’s Calangute when someone suggested a dinner of pork chops. It was common knowledge (even then) that when it came to barbecued meats, all roads led to ‘Lloyd’s’ — a name that has now become synonymous with Goa’s culinary landscape. As Roy and the team headed to Lloyd’s, directions were made void by the aromas of smoking meats that served as a better guide.
On reaching, they were greeted by a humble garage space, featuring five tables and a colossal vessel, being managed by a woman — Celia Braganza. Her son Lloyd Cipriano Braganza, meanwhile, commanded the barbecue. As Roy recounts this anecdote to The Better India, he says the pork chops that day did more than assuage his hunger pangs, instead also giving him a yardstick against which he would measure all future dinners.
“I still insist that no place on the planet can parallel the pork chops at Lloyd’s,” he smiles, branding that day as the start of a beautiful friendship with Lloyd and his cooking. Since then, every trip to Goa sees Roy making a pilgrimage to Lloyd’s for an indulgent platter of pork chops.
“It’s the way they cook the meat, the smoking technique, the marination. The way they put it all together is just beautiful,” Roy, a hard-core loyalist of the chops, endorses. But the biggest standout for him is the consistency that Lloyd has managed since 2002. All this talk about pork chops has gotten Roy visibly excited about his next trip to Goa. But this time, he won’t be heading to the garage, but instead to a revamped ‘House of Lloyd’ juxtaposed against a 400-year-old Portuguese heritage bungalow near Candolim.
At this newly revamped retreat, traditional favourites continue to be the fulcrum of the menu, while epicurean fare gets its moment of fame. But for Lloyd, every element is shadowed by a deep sense of reverence for his roots.
A brainwave and a garage eatery
The journey of Lloyd’s from a hole-in-the-wall tavern to the exquisite oeuvre it presently is is fascinating. “The idea sprang from a simple love for cooking and a desire to share that passion with others,” Lloyd explains. “It began humbly in our family garage, where friends and neighbours gathered to enjoy home-cooked meals. The inspiration came from my mother’s traditional recipes and the joy that food brought to people.”
Did he ever posit the innocent idea to culminate into its present status? “Never in my wildest dreams,” he affirms.
Lloyd credits his wife Nerissa D’Costa for being the force of inspiration. “She has helped steer our vision forward, her resilience and creative flair have added immensely to the brand’s success.” While the eatery was moved from the garage in Calangute to Lloyd’s ancestral home in Candolim in 2011 — part of a broader contingency plan considering the crowd they were getting — the architectural remodelling was undertaken only recently. Elaborating on the project, Nerissa shares, “The restaurant part of the project is in front of the actual house. I did not want a modernish-looking structure because I wanted it to blend in with the home which is a heritage Portuguese bungalow.” She credits architect Mihir Thaker, founder of Mihir Thaker Architects, for bringing a well-groomed gaze to the project.
His architectural sensibilities, she says, have turned the House of Lloyd into the picturesque place it is. The place is unrecognisable from its previous version. But the first bite will assure you nothing has changed.
The scaffolding may be different, but the ethos has remained the same.
Bringing a modern flare to culinary heirlooms
What drives you? I ask Lloyd.
He narrates a recent anecdote of an elderly guest who visited the revamped space with their family. “They told me they wanted their family to experience the magic from the garage. That is my motivation. Their warmth and excitement made me realise the connection we were building through food.” It was a realisation that somewhere, in the collective memory of locals who grew up in Goa, was a recollection of their dinners at the garage outlet. They wanted their children to experience the same.
But the real essence of this venture lies in the flavours of the food — an ode to Celia’s aptitude for masalas (spices). “Her traditional masalas are the heart and soul of the House of Lloyd. Several of her recipes still feature prominently on the menu.” And every time Lloyd attempts to prepare his mother’s recipes, it is a walk down memory lane. “It takes me back to my childhood, of when I would watch her work her magic in the kitchen.”
The menu, he says, cuts through the culinary noise with its playful homage to the classics.
Underscoring one example, Nerissa shares, “We have a dish called the salmon ceviche with a solkadhi (kokum curry) sorbet. We’ve incorporated the solkadhi into a sorbet and added that onto the ceviche which is anyways supposed to be had cold. It makes for a crazy experience.” Other menu classics include stuffed crab, pan-seared scallops, kingfish recheado (classic Goan speciality of fish stuffed with masala), salmon poke bowl (a dish featuring salmon, crunchy seaweed and charred pineapple salsa), Bloody Mary prawns and the smoked duck fettuccine alfredo among others.
The popularity of these is evidenced by the guest list that is punctuated with names like Sanjay Dutt, Jitender, Rakesh Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Manoviraj Khosla, Dimitri Vegas, David Guetta, Mark Robinson and more.
The venture amasses a great deal of love. And to think it all started with a simple idea.
So, the next time you’re in Candolim and you get a whiff of chops, you don’t need to wonder where it’s coming from. Just follow the trail and it will lead you to the House of Lloyd, where a feast awaits.
Edited by Megha Chowdhury; Pictures source: Nerissa D’Costa
