Very unique & really interesting Continental Cuisine inspired by food of Bengal

Address & other details: Bohemian

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Meal for 2: Rs. 750 onwards

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

In case u have been to the link above, u wud have figured out that Chef Joy, the owner, Chief Chef & conceptualizer of the restaurant calls it – contemporary Bengali cuisine & I have called it continental cuisine inspired by Bengal. Read more about this debate & about Chef Joy’s interaction with us in the detailed description.

If we keep aside the birth credentials of this food, it is good food & appeals to the taste buds & worth a second, third & so on….visit.

The Chilli pickle & cheese baked crab with Kolmi greens was mind-blowing – one of the best oriental flavors of crab I have ever had, mutton & cherry tomato skewers was a superb concept – slightly suboptimal in execution, stir fried prawns with muddled grapes was awesome, Pork Vindaloo & Royal Bengal mutton with bhuna sauce & mashed potatoes was good. The desserts were out of the world – Gondhoraj soufflé, Spiced mango soufflé & Mustard & tender coconut mousse.

……….. a must try

Detailed Description – In case u have the time to enjoy readin:

…. A little touching back on the issue of the origin of the food – My thought: If someone wears a black dress with white flowers on it, I call it a black dress with specs of white. If I am having an ice cream with ‘Nolen gur’ flavor, I wud call it continental, If I am having a galawati kabab topped with caviar, I wud call it Indian & so on……… anyway, this debate is not important coz the food is super cool.

The Chilli pickle & cheese baked crab with Kolmi greens was a mix of crabmeat & kolmi saag (a green leaf stir fried & eaten in Bengal) and a very interesting & tasty Chilli pickle. This mix was then topped with cheese, placed inside an empty crab shell & then baked……………. Awesome, brilliant, excellent, mindblowing…… I can eat it every day & still not get bored for 40 years!!!!

Mutton & cherry tomato skewers was a very very good concept – the mutton pieces suffered from a glitch in execution (I guess that was more of an accident) – it had slightly less than optimal salt – not expected from such a fascinating Restaurant though. The spices in the mutton pieces were not overbearing but were making their presence felt.

Conceptually the tomato (being intrinsically sour) could also have a bit of extra salt (maybe inside) to match up with the salt level of the meat – though its even ok just left as it is.

The Stir fried prawns with muddled grapes & chillies were served with a bowl of dry wilted greens (saag) & rice. The Prawn was very soft & the gravy was mild, creamy & really different. The muddled grapes added a new dimension. Though the name mentioned Chillies, the dish was not ‘hot’ by any standards. The chillies added a good feel to the dish.

 

Royal Bengal mutton with bhuna sauce was Sliced Mutton layers, served with mashed potatoes & a new innovative ‘bhuna’ sauce on top. Very different from anything Bengali I have ever had but very enjoyable. A word of caution is that this is prepared in continental style – so the mutton will not be melt in the mouth like we have in some of our Bengali delicacies & Nawabi biryanis.

The freshly cut & steamed vegetables accompanying the dish r just unadulterated freshly cut & steamed vegetables – u can just forget it in case u r not interested in bland steamed veggies. U will not miss anything.

A tip for the Royal Bengal mutton – U will enjoy this dish much more if u think u r having a continental dish. U might feel uneasy if u think u r eatin Bengali food.

Pork Vindaloo (Kolkata style) was one of the best Vindaloo gravies I had in a long while, The meat was slightly tough in texture if u compare to indian food but will b considered ok if compared to meats in continental food. The pork did not taste any different though & was like any other tasty red meat.

Bongs & their sweet tooth – Gondhoraj soufflé was a fine creamy rich soufflé with a flavor of Gondhoraj (a kind of aromatic lemon grown in this part of the country). U cud see & taste the tiny specs of Gondhoraj in the soufflé. Excellent………..

Spiced mango soufflé – remined of a spiced raw aam (mango) sweet chutney in the core , incorporated in a soufflé – new & wonderful.

Mustard & tender coconut mousse – Very unique, the green coconut flavor was not obvious but does not really matter, the mustard was visible & gave a mildly grainy texture. The taste was ……. Ooooh I wanna have it again.

Post the lunch The Chef walked up to our table for feedback & we invited him to join us on our table. We had a great memorable nice adda (chat) on food & other things Bengali……………… look forward to revisiting the place on my next visit to Kolkata to try out the numerous more curious food listed on the menu.

Visited Bohemian many times more….Here is review of the ‘n’th time, 4 years later……. October 2015

Wax gourd and garlic mousse with papri chips. What it was basically a ‘baataa’ that is usually had with hot steamed rice.

The presentation here was however, radically different. The combination was unique and very good. But tasted yumm none the less. Rate it 4.5/5.

Cumin smoked Betki with darjeeling chillies. We chose this as we had just returned from darjeeling and have fresh memory of round chillies in the veggie market there.

The presentation was theatre on the table. 3 inverted glasses arrived at the table, on a tray And our server lifted one of those, we realised that there was smoke trapped inside and the fish was at the bottom.

The fish had smoky flavour, it’s own flavour and flavour of darjeeling chillies. Had salt, sour and hot combo.

Excellent flaky and yumm fish. Rate it 4.5/5 again. An experience to remember.

De shelled crabs with mango pickle, butter and thickened milk. Mango pickle kind of overpowered other flavours. Milk made it creamy. Crabs lost their flavour somewhat. The natural goodness of crabs was lost a bit. Rate it 3.5/5.

Mutton and drumstick stew with gondhoraj leaves. Gondhoraj leaves acted somewhat kafir lime leaves in a Thai Curry.

The gravy was light but thoroughly flavourful – of the meat, of the leaves. Taste was excellent. Meat pieces were soft and yumm. Rate this 4.5/5

We had orange roshogolla. Super soft, not very sweet, real orange pulp & zest….very unique. Rate it 4.25/5