In a nutshell: 

Some long lost recipes, some forgotten ingredients, a whole lot of ingredients sourced directly from farmers & a fabulous kitchen that left us smiling ear to ear ….. with joy, lovely interiors & staff was very warm, well trained, having good product knowledge & also always attentive. 

An unmissable experience for tourists & residents alike. It’s not a restaurant – it’s an experience center. It tickles not just taste buds but also the nostalgia & the grey matter (if one is curious about culture, period, food, ingredients , people, a period gone by….)

Address & other details: 

Instagram : Amar khamar 

Facebook: Amar khamar

Meal for 2: ₹1000 onwards 

Cuisine type :  vegetarian & 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. 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

Short description- in case u r in a hurry 

The part in italics below is about how we know amar khamar & our experience. You may please skip it if in a hurry

We first heard about amar khamar at a pop up by food historian, curator & journalist, pritha sen, in 2019. At the pop up they had used products sourced from amar khamar. We met a lady from amar khamar at the pop up , took the address & straightaway drove to the small shop / warehouse near Golpark, kolkata.

After this experience we went for Chef’s table at Amar Khamar. Read about that experience here – Amar khamar

So few months back when we saw on Instagram that Amar khamar now has a permanent lunch room, we decided to give it a try on our next visit to kolkata. 

The lunch room is located in a decades old building in a small motorable lane off Gariahat road. Cars can’t be larked in front of the restaurant. So it’s better to park cars in regular Gariahat parking. 

The building has been beautifully decked up, nicely maintained. 

The interiors remind of an earlier era. The lobby area also has a shop for products of Amar khamar. 

The dining area is carved out from two rooms. A small hand wash area & a well maintained washroom is locate at the rear end. 

The door to the kitchen opens in the lobby area & hence we could get aromas & whiffs of memories each time the door would open. 

We met the new chef, who has the habit of speaking to guests at all tables. We requested her to suggest & in a few seconds after she asked us questions about our preferences, we finalized the order ….. good food chat…

The boys & the girl who constantly interacted with us during the lunch were very warm, came with each dish/ course to explain the back story, nuances & the ingredients of the same. 

The menu card was comprehensive. It had the details of each dish. 

Loved the lunch. 

Polished off the plate in such a way that not even a morsel was left on plate!!!!!

While we were leaving, we were given a beautiful gift – a postcard signed by all members of Amar khamar team & the menu card. Priceless .

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

We chose a set meal Chhuti-r Bhat – 

We started with Fragrant Karpurkanti Aatap (not par boiled) rice. Ghee sourced from person who made it (not bought from market) enlivened the rice.

First course

With this came Shosa-r Shukto (Teto, an almost customary bitter start to a Bengali meal). 

Extremely good. Posh version of any shukto we have ever had but it was not at all ostentatious. Creamy thick gravy. Slightly firm (just right post cooking, not melting away) cucumber pieces. Somewhat bitter. Perfect seasoning. 

Rate it 4.95/5

Sautéed Seasonal Greens, Mango Kasundi – betho (bathua) Shak with bori (vadi/ lentil dumplings)

Really good, perfectly cooked, comforting dish. It had nothing exotic yet it was very satisfying …. 

Rate it 4.5/5

Spiced & Ground Flat Beans (sheem in Bangla, सेम) bata (you can almost call it a pâté)

A very very smooth version, as opposed to most places we had this dish. Intense in taste. Cooked after the paste was made – felt like caramelised. Rate it 4.75/5

Second course

For the next few dishes we were served another rice – the slender Siddho (parboiled) ‘Gourob’

Kulekhara shaak Fritters (Bhaja) came next

The kulekhara saag flavours were felt but as in any fritter, the batter did distract. As it is the fritter tasted extraordinary. The crispness was perfect. The batter also felt very light – like in a good Japanese tempura. The balance of seasoning was perfect. 

Rate it 4.95/5

Choiti Mung Dal (Lentils) with Garlic

Many daals of begal are cooked without onion & garlic, in the sattvik way (Gaudiya Vaishnav influence). Hence they had mentioned garlic separately. 

The garlic gave a very nice flavour & it changed the overall experience of the daal. Thick texture. Perfectly seasoned. 

Rate it 4.5/5

Machher tel Chorchori – Pona maach (Indian Carp) Innards & fat slow cooked with green Peas

Absolutely outstanding. Intense flavours. Rich textures. Very nice & soft seasonal green peas. Robust & rustic taste & flavour. 

Rate it 4.95/5

Course 3

For the next set of dishes, we were served slender siddho (par boiled) Rupshal rice

In the Eggs, Meat & Fish section we had to choose 2 options. We chose 2 options for one of us & another 2 options for the other. So we got to taste 4 different dishes from this section

Campbell Duck Eggs in Creamy Poppy Seeds

Campbell is a variety of duck – hardy, adaptable, and low-maintenance compared to many duck breeds. They lay a lot more eggs per year than many other duck varieties. 

The egg had a lovely mouthfeel. The jhol was creamy (as described in the menu card), had Posto bats in it. Very good to taste. Rate it 4.5/5

Topster jhaal – topshey fish curry was very nice. Loved the gravy & the ultra fresh fish. The fish had been perfectly fried before making the curry. So the outer skin was a bit crisp & inside flesh was super juicy. Rate it 4.5/5

Giant Freshwater Prawns cooked with Figs was excellent as well. Really good prawns, fresh, cooked perfectly. The jhol was flavourful – retained the flavours of prawn & incorporated the spice flavours. Fig gave it a texture.

Rate it 4.5/5

amar khamar’s special Mutton cooked with Chui Jhal aka Piper Chaba, the indigenous chilli of Bengal  turned out to be outstanding. They used a large goat (रिवाज़ी). The meat had a good amount of fat this did, two things 1. Soft mouth feel. 2. The fat added immense amount of flavour to the gravy.

Rate this 4.75/5

Last course

For pre dessert (in between savoury & sweets, a sweet & sour dish is served. It’s called ‘chaatni’. Usually made from a fruit. Many other variations as well.) on the menu they had Roselle Chutney & Rice Papad. However we were not served this one.

Gom bhaja & kul chatni turned out to be super fun. Gom means wheat. Toasted wheat was served with the chaatni made from a fruit called ‘kul’ (pronounced COOL). 

Excellent. Rate it 4.5/5

Desserts

Chhana muri bhaja kheer – this sweet was innovated in the kitchen of amar khamar. Never had this before, obviously.

It was an elongated, sweet made of chhana (curdled milk), made into a roll, rolled over powdered ‘muri’ (puffed rice). Fried. The texture was slightly crisp on the outside and fairly soft in the middle.

The sweet was mildly sweet, had a tinge of salt. Very unique. Very different. Very good. 

The dip was very nice – creamy, not so sweet, smooth.

Rate it 4/5

Black rice phirni was made with black rice grown in certain parts of West Bengal. This rice is not commonly eaten all over Bengal. It is grown and eaten only in certain pockets.

The phirni was dense, low on sweet, had a creamy mouth feel. 

Rate it 4/5

We also tried the Nolen gurer sherbet – Nolen gur, chatpata masala, lemon – excellent drink. Nolen gur gives colour but the flavours are overpowered by other ingredients. Great drink but Nolen gur could not make its presence felt. It was like local leaders getting more visibility on TV in an event which was led to felicitate a global football star!!!!

Rate it 4/5

Roselle sharbat was good to taste. Subtle. Rate it 3.5/5

Overall rating of food at Amar khamar lunch room averages out to a whopping 4.5/5 (an incredible score from such a long list of items).

Look forward to revisiting.