The Goa of 2026 is a very different Goa from the one that existed 20 years ago. Just a drive through Assagao, which was once just a very sleepy neighbourhood, is now an exploration of all kinds of restaurants and bars. And boy, is it a trip.
 
But this new addition is a first and will have North Indians visiting, rejoicing. Kesar Bagh is Chef Azaan Qureshi’s newest project. Azaan is the third-generation torchbearer of one of India’s most significant culinary legacies. He is the grandson of Padma Shri awardee Chef Imtiaz Qureshi, the mind behind Dum Pukht at ITC Maurya, widely recognised for preserving and elevating the tradition of Dum cooking in Indian gastronomy, and the son of Gulam Moinuddin Qureshi. And now, with Kesar Bagh, he brings that lineage to Goa with a modern, personal interpretation of dum-led cooking. “Awadhi food in some shape or form, good bad, ugly has managed to reach London, NYC, even in Tokyo, but Goa remained an unchartered territory. Besides being a sweet challenge to replicate these classic flavours, the Portuguese villa has been too inviting to be ignored,” Qureshi tells us.

The paan at Kesar Bagh