In a nutshell: Bengali food joint frequented by travelers staying in Free school street area & local population as well , this almost zero ambience, average service restaurant serves some really YUMM food. Address & other details: Kasturi Meal for 2: Rs. 300 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he … Continue reading Kasturi Restaurant (7 A, Mustaque Ahmed Street, Near New Market Area, Kolkata)
In a nutshell: A small but very good concept restaurant that sticks to its core – fish & other seafood, no mutton/chicken. Address & other details: Fish Fish Meal for 2: Rs. 1200 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian 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 … Continue reading Fish Fish (13/5, Swinhoe Street, Ballygunge, Kolkata)
In a nutshell: A new restaurant with some seemingly good intent, good ideas but bad execution. Left in the hands of few employees this place needs major supervision on food if they have intentions to carry on business in this cut throat Gurgaon food landscape. Address & other details: Kolkata Kiosk Go to the 3rd floor end (on top of Mc Donalds) in the newly … Continue reading Kolkata Kiosk (D-14, 3rd Floor, Omaxe City Centre, Sohna Road, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: Not ‘the best I have ever had’ but quite good & close to the original thing – I guess as good as it can get in Gurgaon for kathi rolls. Rest – I’ve had better. Address & other details: Near Canara Bank, beside Super Bakery,Galleria Market. On the stretch between Citibank ATM & Post Office. Meal for 2: Rs. 300 onwards Cuisine type … Continue reading Calcutta’s Chef (Beside Super Bakery, Galleria Market, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: A super tiny neat & clean restaurant with a see thru kitchen that serves a whole list of Indian regional food (more North Indian options) that is good to taste but not necessarily authentic & surely not the ‘best I have had so far’ kind. Considering this to be a neighbourhood shop, it surely scores way above most neighbourhood shops of that … Continue reading Maal Gaadi (GF 147, Sushant Vyapar Kendra, Phase 1, Sushant Lok, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell – Loved the overall dining experience at Amaranta including the splendid food – contemporary take on traditional food from 9 coastal states of India. Address & other details: Amaranta Meal for 2: Rs. 5000 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & nonvegetarian Short Description – In case u r in a Hurry: Amaranta is an Indian Coastal food specialty restaurant that serves food … Continue reading Amaranta (The Oberoi, 443, Phase 5, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon)
Masters of Gravies, curries & fries, still a long way to go when it comes to tenderness of meats. Great place to try out traditional dishes that r seldom cooked at home these days but not a good idea to try basic day to day home food.
Bengali food is usually associated with fish, meats & everything non vegetarian. However there r some extraordinary vegetarian food items made from leaves, stems, flowers, roots etc that cost minimal but taste YUMM e.g. Mocha (banana flower), thor (the pith of the banana stem), oal (root), bok Phool (flower), kumro Phool (pumpkin flower), kochu pata (leaf), kochu (root), lau shak (leaf) etc. These have unique tastes & flavours and most of these r different from the mainstream usually available Indian vegetarian food.
Bengali cuisine of today also has many Mughal influences like Kolkata Biryani etc. British influence shows upin the form of batter fried fish, orly, crumb fried chops, cutlets, fries , kabiraji (coverage), dimer devil (devilled egg) etc.
Bengali food also interestingly has influence from other unexpected Countries. E.g. Dolma came with the Armenians to Kolkata in early 1800s!!!!The Portuguese introduced Cottage cheese to Bengalis in 1600s& that is what gave birth to the famous chhena based Bengali sweets!!!!
Wow potoler Dolma
Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:
For those new to Bengali language, Hangla (pronounced ‘hyangla’) means Glutton. Ki Hangla essentially means – ‘oh, what a glutton!!!’
As I entered the restaurant, I realized it was a real tiny place but with very well done colourful interiors. There were 5 tables with a seating of 3 – 4 each. The Restaurant was neat & clean. A live roll counter is put up outside the restaurant, beside the entrance door – that ensures ‘roll’ customers can take away their rolls without entering the shop. Smoke from the roll counter does not get in the shop as well due to a glass wall that separates the counter from the Dining Room.
In addition to serving cooked food, the restaurant also sells Bengali snacks like Mukhorochak Chanachur & knick knacks like Jharna Ghee, naaru (Bengali style coconut gur laddoo), hojmi guli etc. The wall is adorned with covers of Old Bengali LP records.
Interiors of Ki Hangla
Home delivery seemed to be a large percentage of sales here as I cud hear the phone ringing quite frequently.
The Lady who owns this eatery manages the show herself & that makes a helluva difference. She gets live feedback from the constant customer interaction & that I guess helps her keep up the quality standard. We cud see that Quality of food as well as ‘home delivery’ on time was being directly supervised by her. When Love & Mustard restaurant opened in Galleria long back, the Owner’s presence meant the food was good & over time the food deteriorated as he started entrusting the shop to his staff members. I stopped going there after a series of average to bad experiences.
Ki Hangla serves traditional Bengali, British inspired food, Mughal inspired food, Bangladeshi specialities, Portuguese inspired sweets & of course Armenian inspired Dolma. The taste of some of the food reminded me of the food cooked by ‘thakurs’ (traditional ‘biyebari/shaadi’ Cooks usually from Orissa who were expert Bengali cuisine cooks) who are on the path to extinction after ‘Marriage Caterers’ have found their way into the Bengali ceremonies.
Ki Hangla also comes up with ‘special thalis’ & special menu for different occasions.
Special occasion menu @ Ki Hangla
Food is served in aluminium foil boxes – the same ones that r used for home delivery – A concept similar to Dominos Pizza where they serve on the home delivery box even if u r having it sitting at the store.
As mentioned above, gravies & fries r awesome at Ki Hangla but the meats r not well done at all – something that needs to be taken seriously by the Management.
Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
A cafe that is perfect for getting together & enjoying a adda amidst a very good ambience & some excellent food
Inside the cafe
Address & other details: Cafe’ The’
Meal for 2: Rs. 250 onwards
Cuisine type: Vegetarian & non vegetarian
Background:
The Bengali’s love affair with tea started in the 1800s when the British started mass producing it in India. Tea stalls sprung up over time all over & so did the ‘cabins’. Famous among many were Anandi Cabin, Basanta cabin etc which wud typically serve tea with Anglo Bengali snacks. For a good section of the middle income group, these cabins were equivalent to fine dining places that they wud visit on occasions.
Fish Kabiraji @Cafe’ The’
Bengali cuisine of today has many British influences like batter fried fish, orly, chops, cutlets, fries , kabiraji, dimer devil etc. By the way, Kabiraji is the Bengalification of the English word ‘Coverage’ since the fish / chicken is deep fried after covering it with whipped egg. ‘Dimer Devil’ is the Bengali version of ‘Devilled Egg.’ It is called ‘Devilled’ coz the original yolk of the egg is replaced by minced meat / potato filling.
Dimer devil
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
Cafe’ The’ menu card describes it as ‘the favourite place to meet & eat for artists & poets, musicians & singers, writers , thinkers, lovers, young & not so young’. It is also mentioned that the ‘cha & chop’ (beverage & snack) menu is inspired by the Cabins that dotted North Calcutta.
The very well illustrated menu card @Cafe’ The’
Apart from that there r ‘not too many restaurants serve this in Kolkata’ items like Welsh rarebit, Escalope of Chicken Milanese, fish pie, eggs Benedict etc.
The place is ideal for adda (a Bengali word for nonstop chat on a vast range of unrelated topics) & get togethers with friends & family. The ambience is very good & colourful without being jarring.
The waiting staff are attentive, warm, knowledgeable but not intrusive.
We loved this place so much that we walked in for a second time in a span of two days. We were lucky to eat the food served here during a Bangladeshi food festival named ‘Festive Platter from the Kitchens of Erstwhile Nawabs of Dhaka’. Also tried the regular fare. Super liked the food.
Bangladeshi food festival @Cafe’ The’
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy Reading:
A Bengali cuisine restaurant with disgusting staff whose facial expressions suggest they r doing u a favour, South Indian Udipi Restaurant kind of interiors, a super long menu card of which I guess 60% items r not available & they serve some average to good food.
padmaparer rannaghar
Address & other details: Padmaparer Rannaghar is located on the same footpath as Gariahat Bata. Walk towards Golpark & this restaurant is on ur right.
Meal for 2: Rs. 200 onwards
tablemats that look like banana leaves
Cuisine type: Vegetarian & non vegetarian
Background:
Bengali food is usually associated with fish, meats & everything non vegetarian. However there r some extraordinary vegetarian food items made from leaves, stems, flowers, roots etc that cost minimal but taste YUMM e.g. Mocha (banana flower), thor (the pith of the banana stem), oal (root), bok Phool (flower), kumro Phool (pumpkin flower), kochu pata (leaf), kochu (root), lau shak (leaf) etc. These have unique tastes & flavours and most of these r different from the mainstream usually available Indian vegetarian food.
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
The Restaurant has come up in a place that housed a South Indian Udipi restaurant. So we saw people still coming in & asking for dosas & idlis. The Restaurant Management has decided to keep some of South Indian items in addition to a long list of Bengali items in the menu.
Bengali + selected south Indian food
The menu card is very very interesting. It has a super long list of traditional Bengali food items. Infact, I came to know of this restaurant from facebook – someone found it interesting & had uploaded it & I shared it. However what was disturbing was 60% of items in the list were not available. I understand that all ingredients are not available on all days – Good restaurants do a ‘curry of the day’, ‘starter of the day’ etc for such items instead of giving hope to the customer & then saying ‘we do not have this’.
the colorful menu card
Waiters were dressed in Panjabi pajama – traditional Bengali dress. Even the younger guys were strange in behaviour. Forget a warmth in dealing with guests, they were not just cold – they were freezing cold. Either they r paid low / simultaneously had fights at home before they came to office or someone forced them to come to work on a day when they were expecting a holiday. In case the Owners r reading this post, they must act on it – send in friends / relatives posing as normal customers & let them experience it.
Smile is something they r not used to & the behaviour was as disgusting as it cud get or even more than that. In fact trade unionized waiters of erstwhile government run eateries were better than these chaps.
Dining Hall at Padmaparer Rannaghar
I am sure I will not revisit unless I am dying to have tasty bengali food specifically in Gariahat.
At 1.10 pm, the restaurant had 2 tables filled – first it felt strange. Later I guessed the reason.
Food was good in general – some were great, some average & some aweful.
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy Reading:
