This is a part of series on decades old pice hotels of kolkata where almost nothing has changed over time and they still serve freshly made food from catch of the day and serve at dirt cheap prices.

 

In a NUtshell:

A 62 year old pice hotel that serves daily Bengali food to officegoers, has a facade that might remind you of a haunted house in a horror movie, very neat & clean and well maintained interiors, superfast mechanical service and some excellent food.

Address & other details:  Jagannath

Meal for 2: ₹200

Cuisine type :  vegetarian and non vegetarian

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.

 

No bill. We paid ₹330 in cash for all that we ate

 

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

 

The eatery has been around for 62 years now. Current owner and his brother run it since his father expired when he was 14 (59 years ago). One brother mans the place for lunch and the other for dinner.

Earlier they used to start serving food at 9 am. Now 11 to 3 and 7 onwards for dinner.

The owner remembers someone who would come from as far as krishnanagar his whole career of 40 years (now retired), eat his rice and fish breakfast at 9, then go to work.

Recipes have not changed much over the years. Thankfully the menu has not been changed to chowmein and chilly chicken due to competitive pressure.

The facade looks like a ghost house. B4 u enter, u might hv second thoughts on whether u still want to go in or return.

A peep inside will most probably convince u to get in and eat.

The dining hall had multiple tables with marble tops and wooden structure. Two back less wooden benches were placed on two sides of the table.

The interiors looked well maintained, renovated and neat and clean.

Guests need to share a table with strangers unless they go in a group of 4 / multiples of 4. This place is a great leveller – u might b sharing table with a renowned poet / a businessman/ a corporate sales manager / a taxi driver !!!!

Service is fast and efficient. It is mechanical – the guys rattle off the menu of the day in breakneck speed and at times get irritated if u do not catch up to that speed.

Most waiters seemed to b old hands. They generally wore gamcha (like a dhoti/ lungi) and banyan (vest). They were carrying aluminium balti (buckets) in their hand filled with rice / jhol ( thin gravy of fish).

Beauty of such places is that the volumes are very high and raw materials (fish and veggies) ate bought fresh from market every morning. No refrigerated meats.

 

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

We started our meal with Paanch mishali tarkari. Humble daily vegetables made into an incredible curry. Just too good. Different textures in different bites as the veggies retained their texture. At the same time, there was something that bound the diversity very well. Outstanding. Rate it 4.75/5

Chara pona (small rohu fish) in shorshey bata (mustard paste) came next. The fish was as fresh as it cud get. The mustard paste was excellent- pungent and perfectly seasoned. Wud suggest to avid this fish to those who cannot handle fish bows. For those who can, this is great. Rate it 4.5/5

Parshey fish jhal came next. The fish itself was as super fresh and YUMM. The jhol was good but not great. It did not compliment the amazing fish. Rate the overall dish 4/5 due to the outstanding fish 4.75/5, jhol being good but not great 3/5

Muro (fish head) kalia (a kind of gravy) on the menu attracted us. The muro was of rohu fish. Again super fresh and excellent. The gravy was lip smacking. Not too hot, spices made their presence felt and flavours of fish were beautifully merged with flavours of spices in the gravy. Rate it 4.5/5

Khashir mangsho was great. The Jhol was intense, robust and rustic. The meat was a bit chewy and was not falling off the bones, very tasty and intense 4/5

Overall rating of food at Jagannath bhojanalaya averages out to 4.4/5

Look forward To revisiting