Comfort Cooking and Conscious Cocktails for the Modern Traveller

If quiet luxury is reshaping the way we stay, it is also redefining the way we eat and drink. At Indulge House, a luxury retreat in Goa, dining is not about excess or spectacle. It is about intention. From the kitchen at Sawa Café to the Ayurvedic bar experience each evening, food and drink here follow the same slow, thoughtful rhythm as the rest of the property.

All meals during the stay unfold at Sawa Café & Bar, where Executive Chef Marina leads with what she describes as comfort-forward luxury. The menu is flexible, responsive and deeply personal. “I always ask guests what they feel like eating,” she says. “If they want Indian, I do Indian. If they want continental or Asian, I do that. My focus is on freshness and making food that feels satisfying, not heavy.” Ingredients are kept simple, preparation is unhurried and many elements are customised based on dietary preferences or mood.

There is a strong sense of ease in the way food is approached. Breakfasts might include poha, upma or parathas made to order, while lunches and dinners lean into familiar Indian flavours, biryanis and comforting curries that travellers often crave once the novelty of vacation dining wears off. “Food should make you feel at home,” Chef Marina explains. “Luxury doesn’t always mean complicated. Sometimes it just means 'made with care'.”

That same philosophy extends seamlessly into the bar, where Viplav, the bar manager, is quietly reimagining how alcohol fits into a wellness-led stay. The Ayurvedic bar experience is not about drinking more, but drinking better. “We look at balance,” Viplav says. “You can enjoy alcohol, but it doesn’t have to be unhealthy.” His cocktails are built using Indian botanicals and Ayurvedic ingredients like clove, cinnamon, fennel, ashwagandha and turmeric, chosen as much for their properties as their flavour.

Sweeteners are natural, with jaggery replacing refined sugar, and syrups made in-house using techniques that minimise waste. Viplav describes making lemon syrup by soaking leftover peels with jaggery, allowing flavours to develop slowly before straining. “Everything takes time, but that’s the point,” he says. “Mindful drinking is about slowing down and being aware of what you are consuming.”

Even the setting reinforces this approach. As the sun dips, guests gather at the bar not for loud nights, but for guided conversations around ingredients, flavours and intention. Drinks are sipped, not rushed. Conversations linger. The experience feels less like a cocktail hour and more like a ritual.

Together, the kitchen and the bar capture a larger shift in how travellers define indulgence today. It is no longer about abundance for its own sake. It is about thoughtfulness, personalisation and care. At Indulge House, slow food and mindful spirits are not trends. They are simply another way of listening to what modern travellers truly want.