Chef Dhruv Oberoi brings Olive Delhi’s culinary edge to Olive Goa
Olive Bar & Restaurant, Goa, the chic Anjuna beachside club, enters a new culinary chapter as chef Dhruv Oberoi blends Mediterranean flair with Goa’s vibrant local flavours.
By Deepali Nandwani
Olive Bar & Kitchen’s, Anjuna’s stunning beachfront club-cum-restaurant, welcomes a new chef—or rather, a familiar face. Chef Dhruv Oberoi, the man behind Olive Delhi Mehrauli’s rise as a culinary powerhouse, has now also taken charge of its Goa outpost. Having hosted pop-ups here in the past, he returns with a clear vision: to make Olive Goa known not just for its beautiful sundowners but also for food worth travelling for.
Chef Oberoi brings with him some of his signature creations—Tangy amla and green mango salad with burrata, Himalayan cheese soufflé with pickled jamun, smoked duck with aubergine labaneh, and Basque cheesecake with jamun compote and almond—while reimagining them through Goa’s bounty, particularly its seafood.
As executive chef overseeing Olive Bar & Kitchen’s operations, he is focused on elevating Goa’s Mediterranean-inspired menu with local ingredients and sustainable, ingredient-forward cooking. “The emphasis is on dishes that capture Goa’s essence—grilled local fish with herb-infused olive oil, or salads featuring seasonal mangoes and kokum,” he says. “I’m excited to explore the markets and the produce here.”
Drawing from his philosophy of storytelling through food, chef Oberoi experiments with indigenous flavours across the Olive portfolio, many of which influence Goa. Think Himalayan cheese soufflé with jamun pickles or smoked aubergine labneh with Sirohi goat meatballs—translated here into seafood-forward plates like cuttlefish hummus and zarai cheese with fresh prawns. His green mango and amla salad already feels like a classic: sea salt with honey-preserved amla, green mango relish, sour cheese, mango-ginger dressed greens, and poppy seed granola.
Olive Bar & Kitchen: Anjuna’s beachfront beauty.
A perfect balance
Building on past successes such as the 2023–24 Delhi-Goa crossover pop-ups with mixologist Harish Chhimwal, Oberoi continues to curate seasonal events with progressive Mediterranean menus. Highlights include gluten-free desserts like whiskey-choco bars with Goan Port zabaglione, tiramisu infused with feni liqueur, and cocktails starring cashew feni and kokum.
“I am inspired by the region’s seasonal bounty,” he says. “From fresh seafood to Roman-style flatbreads, comforting risottos to small plates.” Recent additions include smoked duck, Arabic jackfruit tacos with toum and fig pickle, and hand-cut chips. His smoked duck salad reworks his signature amla and mango formula into a seafood-led version.
The menu also shines with thin-crust pizzas—the classic Margherita or sundried tomato and spinach are standouts for me; I believe the best pizzas are always vegetarian. Among mains are hearty vegetarian plates such as artichoke barigoule and a rich Portobello shepherd’s pie, alongside seafood-driven dishes like salmon meunière—rich, buttery, bright with citrus, and rooted in the classic à la meunière style. Another standout is a Basque-inspired skillet squid, smoked in Goan chorizo and served with poi in a tomato-guindilla chilli emulsion.
At the bar, Harish Chhimwal’s new cocktail program bursts with Mediterranean and tropical energy. Classics get playful twists—The Corfu (gin, cucumber, basil oil, fizz), Love in Cyprus (rose, orange liqueur, clarified lime), and Windmill in Menorca (tequila, thyme, grapefruit). The Seven Islands lava bowl, fruity and punchy, is designed for sharing.
Goa’s spirit comes alive in the ‘Sussegad’ cocktail section, which spotlights feni in drinks like Love Feni (kokum, lime), Naughty Avoi (mango, chilli, cashew feni), Burn Bobby, Burn (flaming cinnamon, house bitters), and Kokum If You Got ’Em (a sour-salty local staple). Chhimwal sums it up best: “Playful, proud, and pure Goa.”
Meet Chef Dhruv Oberoi — the creative force behind Olive, Mehrauli.
In Goa, I want to meet farmers, visit the markets, and go out to sea with fishermen to source the freshest catch.
Chef Dhruv Oberoi
Olive Bar & Kitchen Mehrauli
A culinary evolution
Chef Oberoi calls himself an “ingredient-forward” chef, always on the lookout for undiscovered Indian herbs and vegetables to enrich his progressive menus. “In Goa, I want to meet farmers, visit the markets, and go out to sea with fishermen to source the freshest catch.” While he values aesthetics, his focus today is firmly on taste and flavour. “Our menus balance freshness, excitement, and authenticity—transitioning from Chilean sea bass to Himalayan trout, or in Goa, to local fish.”
World-class beach club vibes
Olive Goa may be best known for sundowners, but chef Oberoi hopes to transform it into an all-day dining destination. And the reputation is well-earned: the alfresco space, all white walls and blue cushions, feels lifted from Greece or Italy. Opened in 2020 on a cliff above Vagator beach, it has carved a niche with its laidback vibe, Mediterranean-meets-Goan menus, and quirky touches—like baskets of flip-flops for guests to slip into.
Guests enjoy sundowners by the sea at Anjuna’s Olive Bar & Kitchen.