The café is situated Fountainhas, a locality known for its colourful heritage buildings and new-age cafés and boutiques—you’ll be tempted to walk around and take a few photos before you get welcomed by the aroma of fresh coffee at Mo’s.

Mo serves guilt-free desserts to go with your coffee. You can choose from their many small plates, filling salads or sandwiches. There’s an alfresco section too for those who prefer sitting under open skies. 

The writer orders Vietnamese cold brew (Rs 280) and a coconut guava smoothie (Rs 280). Both pair refreshingly well with our appetisers, prawn balchao raw banana chops (Rs 240) and wasabi peas croquette (Rs 220). The dishes are served with their tasty in-house ketchup and Japanese cabbage salad. Raw bananas overpower the flavour of prawns, but make for a healthier, non-greasy alternative to potatoes. The croquettes are great as a snack, perfectly crisp from the outside. The food feels light and will easily goad you to order more, like the next sampling of Goan chorizo and pork pate (Rs 290). Served with poee bread, salad and gherkins, the pate shows how Oberoi is an expert at making local dishes modern and light. What feels like a big portion for a small plate is quickly wiped off even by our not-so-regular-pork-eating friends.

In picture: Chicken xacuti salad

There is a tempting sandwich section too, from which the writer calls for grilled cheese (Rs 290), albeit a healthier version that comes wrapped in katra pao, has rocket leaves, caramelised leeks, and loads of cheddar and feta. If you aren’t a fan of mustard, just ask the chef to go easy with it in this sandwich. Next up is spicy mushroom and soba noodle salad (Rs 320) and chicken xacuti salad (Rs 350). The xacuti has generous portions of perfectly grilled, mildly flavoured chicken pieces on a bed of mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes, poee croutons and almond flakes with some extra sauce on the side. The soba one is a fibre-rich veg salad with red cabbage, carrots, spring onion, peanuts, sesame seeds and a peanut rayu dressing. 

In Picture: Soba Noodle salad

The almond orange upside-down cake (Rs 250) is divine with strong hints of cinnamon. And the Belgian chocolate tahini rice cracker doughnut (Rs 140) is a godly marriage between a snack and a dessert. Though pricey, the desserts make for guilt-free indulgences. 

Details: 
What: Mo’s Cafeteria, Rua Miguel Vicent Abreu, Panaji, Goa
When: 8 AM to 8 PM
Call: 8073926254
Rating: Good