MY husband Dilip and I have been Goa - Goa - gone for as long as I can remember romance. In the old days we�d go there for thisrya-on-the-beach (nobody did them better than St. Anthony�s at Baga). But for the last three years, we�ve been back for more than clams, mussels, stuffed crab balchao or vindaloo. Baga is all but bursting at the seams with incredibly good restaurants offering a fine dining experience at very sexy prices.

This year, once again, we spent our wedding anniversary in Arpora over a superlative six-course sit-down dinner at Claudia and Hari�s elegant table in �Nilaya�. The piece de resistance? Chef Marc�s refined dessert - strawberries in a delicately flavoured champagne gelee. A superb way to round off a �fishy� meal that included a brilliant rock fish course.

Lunch the next day was with my hero - Chef Rego at the Taj village, who came up with a tender coconut bhaji (slivers of sweet, fresh nariyal flesh straight off the tree), coriander prawns and an extraordinary sweet-and-sour tendli pickle marinated a week earlier in his kitchen. Rego has the ability to elevate the lowliest of ingredient to lofty culinary heights. Any competent chef can create wonders with sophisticated produce. It takes a great one to make the humble tendli taste this delicious.

We went back to our favourite haunts - the justly popular �Lila Cafe� on the Baga Creek where owner Ingo (a gregarious German who has been in Goa for over 20 years) presides with complete and absolute authority. It�s an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. place (too bad diners) that offers quality eating at fair prices. The fare is mixed but I�m crazy about the roesti (with or without cheese and ham), and the aubergine pate (which regulars buy by the kilo).

The other, fast-disappearing items on the Lila menu are the specialities of the house - smoked water buffalo ham (please seek clarification from Ingo directly) and the smoked king fish. In fact, what better compliment can a restaurateur receive than to have a neighbouring restaurateur walk in to pick up a couple of kilos of the good stuff for himself? Yes, Jamshed (the �J� of the J and A�s of Little Italy) who runs a terrific, open air restaurant right next door, unabashedly (and generously) praised Ingo�s cafe while telling us how both (J and A�s Little Italy and �Lila�) feature on all the popular tourist guide books to Goa.

I�m not surprised. We had to wait for 45 minutes in December to get a candle-lit table at Little Italy. Wood-fired pizzas and traditional pastas are Jamshed and Ayesha�s strong sellers. Pity they shut down in April (as most of the smart Baga places do) only to reopen in September.

But the place that really and truly blew us away on this visit, was �After Eight�. Dilip called it the �Zodiac Grill� of Goa. (Take a bow, ZG.) And, he wasn�t all that off the mark, as it turned out. Run by two ex-Taj veterans (Apollo Bar enthusiasts who oohed and aahed over the fondue and souffle festivals there will recall the exuberant chef Chakraborthy), �After Eight� has acquired the status of the number one gourmet experience in North Goa.

The setting in an intimate garden near the Candolim beach, is unfussy, neat and pretty, the decor, contemporary and smart, and the food? Just one word-extraordinary. Veerendra Singh and Sumen Chakraborthy supervise every least detail down to the efficient twist of the wine bottle to make sure an evening there is a memorable experience.