II Capriccio on the Beach Morjim Beach
II Capricio is a delightful beachfront Italian restaurant serving fresh salads, seafood plates, pastas and desserts of the day, as well as fabulous cocktails, which they are happy to serve you at their colourful sun-beds. The two-floor beach café offers stunning views of the beach in front and the hills behind, and is a perfect spot to enjoy their sunset sangria and Tapas specials.
Located on the picturesque Morjim beach, a few shacks down from Marbela Beach Resort, is this new Italian eatery. The two-storey, open-air, daytime restaurant is colourful and cool, with chairs painted in bright pinks, blues and purples, and cushions in funky animal prints.
The restaurant additionally provides sun-beds on the beach, again, with colourful (and comfortable) mattresses, offering food and cocktail service here as well. The ground floor of the restaurant stays shaded and cool throughout the day, with bamboo “chick” curtains to provide a welcome reprieve from the afternoon sun. The view from the top, however, makes this one of our favourite sunset spots on this beach!
LUNCHTIME to SUNSET
Il Capriccio on the Beach is a daytime restaurant, serving lunch till late afternoon, and Tapas till sunset. The menu is fresh and light, and perfect for an afternoon on the beach. Choose from a chilled Gazpacho, Insalata Frutti de Marre (seafood and melon salad) the quintessential Insalata Caprese (but Gigi’s is made with smoked mozzarella), Beef or Tuna Carpaccio, Prawn and Avacado Salad to Sardines stuffed with Riccota, and much more.
The day’s specials feature homemade pastas (try the freshly prepared ravioli with pesto, or the seafood pasta) and main courses (we love the kingfish mille-feuille), as well as specialty desserts by Mathé (Tiramisu, Profiteroles, Mango Panacotta with Raspberry Coulis).
Sunset brings daily a selection of Tapas nibbles and fresh sangria. Il Capriccio on the Beach was formerly run by chef Gigi Mascia and his partner, Mathé Villibord, as simply, “Il Capriccio”, which was located further in-land and operated out of a private garden property by the river in Morjim. The restaurant was made popular by Gigi’s authentic and delicious Italian cooking.
Gigi has several years of experience working as a private chef in affluent homes and resorts across Europe and Sardinia. During the summer, following their season in Goa, the pair continue in this line of work. In its new sea-facing avatar, Il Capriccio (on the Beach) has added two friends to its management team, Mathieu Chanard, who currently co-owns and manages the Amarya Group of Small Lifetsyle Hotels, with a property on Ashvem Beach (Amarya Shamiyana) and Daniel Reyes, who manages the popular accessory brand, Purple Jungle, in Goa.
Il Capriccio on the Beach is born of a labour of love, good friendship and an appreciation for great food, and the energy here truly epitomizes this.