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-1907
In a nutshell:
A century plus years old kolkata sweet shop that serves hot roshogollas throughout the day & shuts shop around 7 pm, as soon as the stock is over. ‘No refrigerator’ , we were told.
YUMMRAJ says for Chittaranjan Mishtanna bhandar – ‘OLD IS GOLD’.
Address & other details: Chittaranjan
Facebook: Chittaranjan
Meal for 2: ₹300 onwards
Cuisine type : vegetarian only
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.
YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives 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
We paid in cash, No bill
Short description- in case u r in a hurry
We got to know of this shop from our friend, foodka Indrajit Lahiri (moha-mushkil) & also from our friend Anirban bora. So we visited the shop for the first time in 2020. Has been in the list of pending posts but for some reason it kept getting postponed.
We have been here several times now & it’s almost a ritual now to drop in here & have at least 4-6 roshogollas at a go per person.
Yes you heard it right. Younger people on an average eat 8-12 pieces at a time. I heard there are people who have eaten even 30 of these standing on the footpath in front of the shop.
The shop has two highlight product – roshogolla & madhuparko.
The staff wear a uniform, wear headgear for cleanliness, generally are pretty ‘matter of fact’ but break into good conversations when the crowd is less.
The customers interact with staff from the pavement. When requested for ‘eat here’, the sweets are served on bio degradable saal leaf bowls & refills are given in the same bowls.
A large plastic dustbin is kept on the side of the footpath to throw the used bowls.
Love the hot roshogollas here.
Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
Roshogollas are mainly two types –
1. The kolkata style sponge ones
2. The rural / small town of Bengal variety, similar to the ones at pahala odisha.
Our favourite is the pahala variety / suburban Bengal variety. We hardly have roshogolla se when in kolkata. Chittaranjan is the only exception. In the last three years we have only had roshogolla se from here. And it’s not near to where we put up when in kolkata. It’s 25 km (each side) away.
The reason why we like Chittaranjan’s roshogolla is probably because we have always had it hot – either piping hot or just hot.
So this is what we got to know after chatting with the gentleman manning the counter:
Roshogolla is made in multiple batches during the day. The process starts early morning.
Every time a fresh batch comes out of the kadhai, it is kept in huge metal tubs & brought to the selling area. The quantum of hot ras (sugar syrup) ensures that the contents finish before the ras cools. The fact that demand high also helps in finishing the stock while it is hot.
‘The last batch is made in the afternoon & the shop is shut approximately by 7 pm as soon as the last few are sold out’ – we were told.
We go & ask for 4 hot roshogollas per person & end up having another 2-4.
Unlike other roshogollas, the soft ones do not retain perfect round shape. If one hot roshogolla falls from the hand, it will look like a white lump. That’s the level of softness that one feels when this rishogolla enters the mouth.
Sublime Flavours of good chhana (curdled milk) fill the senses.
Rate this 4.75/5
Modhuparko is a thick sweet served in a plastic bowl. There is a classic version & flavours as well.
Around the time of completing 100 years of the shop, Madhuparka was introduced. It is a creamy curd based sweet. Low on seeet & nice mouthfeel.
Rate it 4.25/5
Overall rating of sweets averages out to 4.5/5
Look forward to trying other sweets here when we go next time.