This is a part of YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience.
Year/decade of opening-1927 by Mrs & Mr J Flury.
In a nutshell:
Legendary 80+ year old Kolkata restaurant located in an iconic location on Park Street, Old World Café ambience, mix of ancient & present day waiting staff & very good food in general.
YUMMRAJ says for Flurys – ‘OLD IS GOLD’.
Address & other details: Flurys
Meal for 2: Rs. 500 onwards
Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.
I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.
Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:
Opened in 1927 by Mr & Mrs J Flurys, this restaurant has undergone one major renovation in so many years. Looks of the café are slightly different than what it originally was. I am attaching a very nice note about the café that talks about the heritage.
The latest menu card celebrates the heritage dishes & those r marked with ‘H’ – these dishes r from the repertoire between 20s & 60s.
The guys who come to the table & take orders r quite young & modern day. The person who was physically bringing the food seemed to have met the Flurys themselves. He was quite moody & had his share of mood swings.
The cutlery were having a heritage feel.
Food & beverages were very good. Takes quite an effort to maintain that standard after so many years. R they the best in their category in India? The answer is NO. There r quite a few Modern day restaurants in India that serve better – example L’Opera, Di Ghent Café (at much higher prices though) or even some dishes served at Kookie Jar (at similar prices).
This place is not just about the food – its about the whole old world charm , the food , the tea served in traditional way & of course the adda with friends…………….
Detailed Description – In case u have the Time to NJOY reading:
We started our breakfast with English breakfast. It had two rashers of crispy bacon, grilled chicken sausages , fried eggs , grilled tomato , mushroom & spinach & hash brown .
The bacon were good in quality & were optimally cooked – not over crisp & extra browned. The soft fat layer cud b enjoyed & at the same time the meat part was crisp. Rate it 4.25/5,
The grilled chicken sausages were ordinary sausages machine made from ordinary chicken. They were soft & good but not great. Rate the sausages 3/5,
The fried eggs were very good. They had chosen organic eggs instead of the usual disasterous pale yolk poultry eggs. That made the fried eggs so much better – the yolk tasted excellent. The egg white was optimally soft, optimally salted & not brittle. Rate it 4/5,
The grilled tomato was nice to taste, perfectly charred & had the right seasoning. Rate it 4/5
The mushroom & spinach combo tasted very good as well. Rate it 4/5
The hash browns were perfecty crisp on the outer side, had the right amount of salt & were uneven & soft inside. Loved it. Rate this dish 4/5.
Rating of English breakfast averages out to 3.9/5. Must say that at Rs. 525, (less that US$10), this is a marvelous breakfast by Global standards. This is better than almost all English breakfast I have eaten at that price anywhere in the world.
For drink we ordered Watermelon juice which was perfectly balanced in terms of taste & temperature. Rate it 4/5.
We moved on to Flury’s original chicken patties (Heritage dish). The outer layer was very fluffy & crisp. It tasted very good as well. Rate the outer layer 3.5/5.
The filling was too flat & had nothing special about it. It was a tad too fry & too smooth a paste. Rate the filling 2.5/5. Overall rating of this dish averages out to 3/5
The next dish we tried was Flury’s original open swiss sandwich with shredded chicken, ham, tomato & cheese. This was topped with a sunny side up. As it landed on the table, we realized it was a feast for the eyes. Later we realized it was a feast for the tastebuds as well.
The ham stood out visually & also in the taste. Super loved it. Shredded chicken was soft & nice. Crisp bread at th ebottom, layer of lettuce on top, layers of veggies & other ingredients mentioned above. Overall sandwich was very nice. Rate it 4.25/5
We also ordered Heritage tea sandwiches – egg & mustard. The bread was ordinary. Wud have been great if it was inhouse baked bread. It was not bad but sub good in terms of softness , texture etc. Rate the bread 2.5/5. The filling was awesome. The mustard & the egg both made their presence felt. Rate the filling 4.5/5. Overall rating of the dish averages out to 3.5/5.
The last dish we had was Coronation chicken filled croissant (with curry & mayonnaise). This again was a heritage dish.
The croissant was very good. Flaky, soft inside, crispy outside, optimally salted & had flavors of butter. Rate the croissant 4/5.
The filling was good but not great. It was a bit creamy, soft & nice. Rate it 3/5.
Overall rating for the dish averages out to 3.5/5.
I tried Flury’s Vienesse coffe – single espresso with whipped cream. This again was a heritage dish. Wow. Floored me. Very nice coffee, flavorful, strong. Whipped cream added more to the taste. Super loved it. Rate it 4.5/5.
My co-diner ordered Darjeeling tea. It was served in the traditional style in a kettle. Milk, sugar were served separately. A strainer was of course given. Loved the experience.
The tea was very nice & refreshing. Rate it 4/5
We also had dessert after breakfast : Peach melba – vanilla ice cream, poached peach, strawberry sauce, whipped cream.
Needless to say, there was reacl peach in this. Every element of the dessert was good & overall it was just too good. Not too sweet. Balanced of sweet & sour was good. Rate it 4.5/5
Overall rating of food & beverages at Flurys averages out to 3.9/5. I wud surely revisit not just for the food but the whole feel of sitting in a heritage restaurant in a heritage location with friends over a good adda & very good food………………….
