In a nutshell:
A new Bengali cuisine restaurant by a famous TV personality , that looks very nice, has excellent service and serves some good traditional Bengali food.
Address & other details: Sudipar rannaghar (37/1, Purna Das Road, Near Triangular Park, Gariahat, Kolkata)
Meal for 2: 2000 onwards
Cuisine type : vegetarian & non-vegetarian
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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:
The restaurant is run by Sudipa, a famous Bengali TV personality who does a cookery show by the name Sudipar rannaghar. The day we went dining there, she was around and she was visiting all tables to ask about the food and the restaurant. I cud see quite a large section of guests were her fans. Some wanted selfies, some groupfies and some just an old fashioned click with her…
The restaurant has a small frontage and does not have a large loud signboard (like the other eateries in the area have). So chances of missing it r high.
Once inside, there is a tiny waiting area that has beautiful ‘potochitro’ – traditional painting of Bengal.
The main dining area is a combination of 3 rooms, all with bright paint walls and large potochitros on them.
We went during Durga pujo, so only buffet was available. They said they will introduce a la carte post pujo.
Ramkumar Chattopadhyay’s baithaki songs were playing in the background at a volume level that was not coming in the way of conversations and also it was good enough volume for people to listen to the songs.
At the buffet counter there were only large plates and small plates. All items in the main course were thin gravy. So one had 3 options –
- to walk to the counter, take the jhol ( gravy) , walk back and eat and do this 5-6 times. Good option for tastebuds but inconvenient.
Or
- To take all jhols at one go in the plate and assume they will not get mixed. Obviously that’s not possible. Bad option from taste perspective.
Or
- The restaurant can have small steel / ceramic bowls so that people can carry back their jhol in the bowls at one go and enjoy them without mixing up.
The young Service manager was 5 star level – experienced, trained hospitality guy. He was managing the show very well. He made us feel at home. Waiters were quite average and new – they still need a helluva lot of training. The lady managing bookings at the reception was trying hard but seemed to b new to the job.
Food In general was very good. I guess it wud b better in non pujo times.
Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
Ghol, a curd based drink was served as soon as we sat. It had a mild fermented flavour of curd. Not too sweet. Moderately thick. Bubbles galore. Rate it 4/5
We started the lunch with Fish fry. Fish was very fresh. It was flaky, somewhat juicy. Outer cover was crisp and nice, not too thick. Rate it 4/5
We were then served Chicken kabab. It was a funny dish. It was either steamed / boiled / microwaved. Very subtle, but the base being flavourless tasteless chicken, the dish failed to impress. Same preparation for crabmeat / prawns / fish wud hv been great I believe. I almost choked while eating this coz it was dry and to get it down the throat needed an art. Saliva did not get generated much, due to absence of great taste / flavour. Rate it 1/5.
Moong dal was excellent – like at home. Flavourful, without an excess of masala on the face. Rate it 4.5/5
Jhurjhure aloo bhaja was very nice, super crisp, had a good amount of chatpata masala in it. The masala took away the intrinsic simplicity of the quintessential aloo bhaja. Rate this 3/5.
Cauliflower curry was awesome. Simple curry made from small cauliflowers – flavours of good cauliflower made its presence felt. Rate it 4.5/5
Dhokar dalna was good. It had a sweetish tinge in it, matched with salt and hot. The dhoka was soft but firm. Rate it 4/5
Chingri malai curry was excellent – coconut milk based gravy with a slightly sweetish tinge. Golda chingri – Prawns were large, soft and yumm. It was also unlimited like the rest of the menu – I saw gentleman in my next table heaping up almost 10 of them. Rate it 4.5/5.
Mutton curry was a simple home style, light, flavourful gravy. Menu card mentioned it as Kosha but it was not like the usual Mutton Kosha served by restaurants with a thick oily gravy. Mutton pieces were soft and nice. Overall dish tasted very good. Rate it 4.25/5
White Chicken curry was pretty good to taste. It had pale looks but was full of flavours. Chicken pieces were soft and good to eat. Rate it 4.5/5
Tomato Chutney was sweet n sour in taste. It had a tinge of salt that gave it a great third dimension. Loved having it. Rate it 4/5.
Kachagolla (sweet) was also there. Loved it. Not rating it coz I think they were not made inhouse but bought from outside.
Payesh (payasam as it is known as in South India / kheer as it is called in North India) was medium thickness, somewhat creamy, had soft grains of rice that retained their shape. Sweetness was a tad too much. Rate it 3.5/5.
Overall rating of food at Sudipar Rannaghar averages out to 3.8/5. They have a good lot of catch up to do to reach Oh Calcutta levels.
I wud revisit some time to try the a la carte.