Ingo’s Saturday Nite Market in Arpora, Goa

(A video of Ingo’s Saturday Nite Bazaar in Arpora, Goa. courtesy : Youtube)

And since everyone told me that Ingo’s was better than the other one, Mackies, I made my way there last saturday. It was very nice in a ‘fusion Indie+World’ kind of way.

Surprisingly, Daniel, the guy who owns the fishing camp up in Vijaydurg runs the famous Daniel’s bar here (more formally known as the Boutique House) and so I got to meet him and his lovely wife Thelma. More of that in another post. Now on to Ingo’s.

Ingo is a German who came to Goa and decided to set up the now famous Saturday Night Bazaar. So he went up to an old Goan family with a big house and sprawling grounds in Arpora and got them to lease the land to him for the do. The idea caught everyone’s attention and Ingo’s has been the most successful multinational enterprise in Goa for the past 7 to 8 years (although rumours suggest that the Russian mafia might soon become the biggest business unit in Goa).

Ingo’s Saturday Nite bazaar is, well, a bazaar on Saturday nights. On for about 6 months of the winter months, it brings an eclectic bunch of traders – from the ubiquitous Rajasthani and Kashmiri vendors of Indiana to all hues of foreigners hawking stuff from handmade shoes (nice) to variegated trinkets (not so nice).

The food was good too. Obviously Indian food was in plenty, from Tandoori chicken to Goan Xacuti. But the really interesting part was the international food. I tried some Turkish food and an excellent Paella. Olga, the comely proprietress of the spanish food stall comes from Barcelona and is the best Spanish cook in India (my certification. if you dont believe it, go try her stuff out). And, there were a bunch of ‘far-eastern’ looking folk dishing out Hong Kong dimsum, which unfortunately was very disappointing (oily, for gods sake!). The market starts at 4pm and by 8pm the place gets pretty crowded and there is a nice beat going. Daniel’s bar attracts many DJs (remember Apache Indian? He was there a few weeks ago and is now contemplating settling down in Goa) and the crowd really gets into the groove there by about 11.

But the pick of the lot was certainly Ma Shiv Shakti, the plump & pert soothsayer (‘white healing’) who was doing brisk trade in assuring assorted white people that their futures were indeed rosy and it was’nt all an illusion.

Interesting place, Ingo’s saturday nite bazaar in Arpora.

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