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 – 1780.
We think this restaurant is OLD is GOLD for its food
In a nutshell:
An eatery that has been around since 1780, interiors maintained well, guests share table with strangers, full service provided by staff, very good food that stands out.
Address & other details: Adi Haridas Modak (220, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Shyambazar 5 Point Crossing, Kolkata, West Bengal 700004)
Meal for 2: ₹50 onwards
Cuisine type : vegetarian only (no onion, no garlic)
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.
No bill received after payment.
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
Short description- in case u r in a hurry
Adi Haridas modak shop at Shyambazar crossing, Kolkata has been around since 1780. To set context, in 1780 this is how Kolkata was:
- The east India company was ruling this area since their win in the battle of Plassey in 1757.
- Potato had just been introduced to India by the British
- Trains came almost a century later. Buses & trams came about 150 years later.
- Palanquins, Ox carts & pedestrians were the majority sight on the streets in black town (that’s what the British used to refer to north Calcutta)
- Horse drawn carts were used by the babus to meet their nauch girls in the evening
- Population of Calcutta was less than 2 lacs around that time vs. 1.5 crores in 2023
- First weekly newspaper in India – Hicky’s gazette started in 1780
- 1784 Asiatic society founding president Sir William Jones initiated research into oriental literature, philosophy, history etc. of entire Asia, not just Bengal or India.
- Colleges opened 1800 onwards
We went to Adi Haridas Modak on strong recommendation of our friend Sushmita Roy & we are super happy that we finally made it there.
There is no car parking in front of the restaurant. So one has to park in some smaller road or lane around. As we parked & walked towards the place that google map was showing, we saw an eatery named Haridas Modak. We skipped it & kept looking for Adi & reached the shop almost immediately.
The location is ‘on paper’ what Retailers dream of – corner store in a traffic crossing. The only & biggest challenge is that the hawkers have covered the visibility of the shop from the road.
The eatery has two sections. An ‘over the counter’ sweet shop like any other ‘mishtir dokan’ in Kolkata & a dining hall where food is served to guests.
In the dining hall, guests sit on wooden benches laid on both sides of marble top tables. Guests do not get dedicated table to themselves but share table with other guests.
The server boy comes & talks about the order & later gets fresh kochuri from the kitchen. He also gets hot piping daal & repeats of the same too. The kochuri repeat comes at a price. The daal repeat has no additional price.
At the end of the meal the boy came to us with a platter of sweets to choose from. We found the people serving us warm & nice.
Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
As we sat, banana leaf was laid in front of us.
We were served piping hot daal kochuri on the banana leaf & the accompaniment was hot chholar daal with loads of potatoes (with skin) & dry fruits.
The kochuri was fluffed up, had a good filling (a bit thin), slightly low on salt (not optimally enjoyable as it is), outstanding flaky texture. Loved it in combination with the daal. Rate it 4/5
The daal had an excellent flavour, with flavours of daal & hing (asafoetida) complimenting each other. The daal had just the right balance of sweet & salt. The spices had been perfectly cooked. The aloo was just right. There was a distinct ginger flavour & some tiny pieces of ginger also. Outstanding daal I would say. Rate it 4.5/5
When we were done with eating the savoury food, the boy came with a bowl of sweets to choose from. Lovely. We tried the chhana bhaja. It was a bit grainy, was not too sweet, had a hint of salt. Rate it 3.75/5
Overall rating of food at Adi Haridas Modak averages out to 4.1/5
Recommended by YUMMRAJ