Anticipation seems to play a big role in how much I enjoy a restaurant. If my hopes for a place are high – if it’s been extolled everywhere as 'amazing' and 'authentic' - the chances are good that I’ll be disappointed.

Over-hype can kill an experience, but the result, thankfully, is also true. Low (or no) expectations can magnify the pleasure of encountering something great. That was certainly the case with a recent meal at Tentações de Goa.

I sought this place out because I couldn’t in all honesty face another Portuguese meal. I loved the local cuisine in all of its greasy glory during the first six consecutive days. On the seventh night I broke down and turned to the former colony of Goa for a culinary interlude.

Photo by José Manuel Pinto

A local Lisbon friend recommended this casual restaurant “in a dark alley that isn’t as dangerous as it seems.” True to description, Tentações de Goa was located on a side street with few working lamps. The building number wasn’t there, or was too difficult to read, and passed the door several times before finally thinking “this must be the place!”

Once inside, we were greeted with a very warm welcome and the promise of cold vinho verde. We asked the friendly waitress to bring us whatever she thought was best. Soon enough we were feasting on Bojés com Chetni, Camarão Recheado, and Xacuti de Cabrito.

The Bojés were fried, the sort of fritters one finds in every Indian joint. The chutney, on the other hand, was like nothing I’d ever tasted. Bright green – nearly glowing – the paste was thick and tasted fresh, hot, and tart.

Xacuti  de Cabrito

The Camarão arrived bubbling in a low metal pan - stuffed shrimp in another gorgeous sauce. For the next course, Xacuti sauce enrobed tender cubes of baby goat. Had the sauce been covering socks, I would have happily continued eating – so good was this pungent curry.

Because we had stumbled in with no expectations, Tentações de Goa seemed doubly exciting.  The modest bill – 35€ for 2 people, including a bottle of wine – also amplified our enthusiasm. But now that I’ve raved, I suppose there’s the possibility that I’ve set you up for disappointment. At the very least, you can expect to find fresh and interesting flavors at very reasonable prices. Whether it is also, as I’ve suggested, a minor side-street miracle, remains for you to decide.

Tentações de Goa, rua S. Pedro Mártir, nº 23

Go further: Fancy Indian food? Check out Henry's guide to his favourite Indian restaurants in central London here.

It’s often said that the Trevi Fountain looks like a stage set. Indeed, the 250 year-old fountain has provided a backdrop to many notable performances. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn dallied around it in Roman Holiday. And a very well-endowed Anita Ekberg was drenched here by Fellini in the classic film La Dolce Vita.

Today, however, some very young starlets are dominating the Trevi stage. I sat there recently while happily munching a big cone from Il Gelato di San Crispino. While working my way through a melon sorbet, I couldn’t help but smile at the teenage girls who were posing on the rocks below.

Photo by Andy Hay

Instead of reflecting on the Baroque architecture, or fishing in my bag to find three coins (tossing them into the water brings marriage or divorce, according to the legend), I was busy watching a long series of girls flip their hair, arrange their legs, and smile for the souvenir shot.

"I don’t think we can claim to have visited Rome without this sort of evidence,” I said. My friend  - perhaps fortunately -  was less enthusiastic about the idea of watching a grown woman trying to crash the pose party below.

"No matter,” I said, finishing the last of my gelato. “I think it must be time to eat again…”

Il Gelato di San Crispino, Via della Panetteria 42, Rome