Shiraz Golden (Park Circus – Mullickbazar Crossing, Kolkata)

YUMMRAJ Demystifies the Legend of Shiraz

In a nutshell:

A long History of excellence, sadly struggling to keep up with its earlier Glory – A lunch here left us with a cold feeling & also food that was surely lower than expectations.

Address & other details: Shiraz Golden

Meal for 2: Rs. 250 onwards

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & predominantly Nonvegetarian

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Shiraz as a name rings a bell with Most Calcuttans (since the Days when Kolkata was Calcutta). I have had many good experiences in the past here like many others. Over the years I have seen a decline & had stopped going here & insead to the newly opened Arsalan. Similar experiences cud b heard from others as well. This time around I made it a point to revisit Shiraz & check it out myself…………….

There are two restaurants at Park Street Mullickbazar area. One is a few shops away from the other. The newer one is closer to the crossing & the older one is a few shops away. The newer one is swankier as well. We decided to go to the Old one.

The old restaurant has a non airconditioned ground floor & an airconditioned first floor. Furniture, look & ambience of the first floor is much upgraded as compared to the ground floor. The look at first floor was that of an old Eightees restaurant. Cubicles made with set of sofas facing each other. Lighting was dim.

The staff of this place need a special mention. Some of them seem to walk out of a 70’s movie. They have been in the same job of waiting tables for decades, have got bored enough & that shows on their face every moment, appear at the tables like robots without any facial expression & at times frown if too many questions are asked. The uniform has quite a ‘Nawabi Khansama’ look. The relatively younger Manager who I guess was the only person in suit, was also quite serious faced. He was continuing to speak to me in English even though I was speaking in Bengali. It was then that I did what I do best – mentally poke. I striked a conversation on ‘what is popular her / what is legendary her, I have come from far to eat here/ what is ‘mash-hoor’ (famous) here etc & within 3 -4 sentences each, the customer – server barrier fell apart. We were talking to each other as two human beings & the interaction was excellent since then for the rest of our stay.

The food is surely very good in isolation but as compared to others, this one takes a beating – Straight away from Arsalan Park Circus & surely from Aafreen, Metiabruz. We were unlucky to get stale meat in one of the dishes, very happy to get a replacement after we reported the same & even more disappointed when the replacement turned out to b stale as well.

However, inspite of that, people throng to this place in thousands, more due to emotional reasons than pure culinary ones.

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yummrajOctober 20, 2012January 1, 20131 Comment

Indian, Mughlai

Nizam’s Kathi Kabab (Supermart 1, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon )

In a nutshell:

Famous for its rolls that I found to be expensive & good but not upto the expectations, this tiny takeaway place also sells some good biryanis, kababs & curries.

Address & other Details: Nizam’s

Meal for 2: Rs. 400 onwards

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Kolkata has come up with some innovative permutations & combinations in kathi rolls (generally called rolls) over the last decade or so. What started as a basic egg roll, has now I guess 20+ combos like double egg roll (made with 2 eggs), double egg chicken roll (2 eggs & 1 portion chicken), double egg double mutton roll ( 2 eggs, 2 portions mutton) , paneer roll (no egg & 1 portion of paneer )etc …..just to name a few. So most places selling roll wud have a long rate chart that wud list prices of these. While going thru the rate card at Zeeshan , Park Circus, I noticed they sell bheja roll (goat brain roll), bheja egg roll etc as well. Fish being a bong favourite, has also rolled into rolls of late.

As of today none of those rolls cost more than Rs. 60 (the 2+2 combos), including Nizam’s Kolkata. Nizam’s Gurgaon however charges Rs. 160 for a double egg double chicken roll which is surely high by any standards. I am a person who comfortably parts with huge amounts of money on food if the food is that good – but this seemed more to me as well. However, we decided to order expecting that at least our tastebuds wud rejoice after eating roll from the legendary Nizam’s.