Bibi of Taajas, Jodhpur Park, Kolkata

Bibi of Taajas is one of Kolkatas oldest restaurant dedicated to bringing world cuisine to the city. A noble attempt and I love the restaurant just for that fact alone. The restaurant also has the unfortunate history of shutting down and reopening atleast 3 times in my memory and at different places. So while I will tell you where the latest reincarnation is, do forgive me if you go and find out that the restaurant does not exist there any more. Taajas has a variety of delicacies from all over the world, I was first introduced to the Greek Moussaka and the Risotto through the restaurant and used to think that those two dishes were Gods gift to mankind. I have since however tasted the Moussaka in Athens and had Risottos in a variety of high quality Mumbai restaurants and am sad to realize that the preparations at Taajas are not authentic although to be fair to them the taste is reasonable good in anyway. Maybe they seek to tailor the cuisine to the Bengali taste and wallet size. Bibi is the name of the owner of the restaurant and I am not exactly sure why she has added her name to the restaurant. Anyway does not really matter and I hope it works well for the restaurants business.

The décor of the restaurant is very homely, the current avatar is actually in a house setting, complete with a bookshelf and a divan in the corner. The last time I was at Taajas I sampled some Chicken Dumplings, Paella and the Thora Sin Moo. The chicken dumplings were good to taste but the dough was slightly on the thicker side, the Paella which is a Spanish Pulao, cooked with sausages and prawns had very good quality prawns but to my mind lacked a bit on the aspect of taste. The Thora Sin Moo which was a Laos inspired preparation of Pork served on a bed of rice was however excellent and worth another visit on its own. The other interesting fact that you should be aware of is that Taajas serves food in huge quantities, the paella that we ordered was good enough to feed 4 people.

Overall I enjoyed my meal and I really hope that the restaurant does well. It is a great effort to bring world cuisine to Kolkata. However if you do go there, do steer clear of the dishes you know so as not to be disappointed on the authenticity aspect, chances are very high that you will find something interesting and chances are even higher that you will completely love what you are eating.

A meal for two at Bibi of Taajas will cost you approximately Rs 800/-

How to get there: The latest incarnation is located in a lane right opposite the Jodhpur Park Post Office in South Kolkata. The lane will fall to your left if you are driving from Golpark towards Jadavpur. Taajas is 30 m inside the lane on your right.

Mocambo, Park Street, Kolkata

Mocambo is easily one of Kolkata’s most famous restaurants serving old style, typically Kolkata, continental cuisine. It is the most popular place to go and enjoy a quasi British experience in the city that Job Charnok founded. Not that Mocambo does not have competition, Sky Room had a better brand, and was renowned for top quality food but the owners decided to not continue with the restaurant business almost two to three decades back and exists only in the memory of the Kolkatan. Peter Cat probably has better food but is done in by their world famous Chello Kebab, which effectively defines the restaurant. Mocambo has therefore emerged as the place to sample food from the mother country in the one time capital of British India.
The décor at Mocambo is typically British, grand turbaned doorman, waiters in white or black, rich carpeted floors and comfortable sofas which tend to envelope you while you sit. The service is not the fastest but is always polite. The food is good but the restaurant does have its share of disaster dishes as I found out. The last time I was there at Mocambo, I sampled the necessary Prawn Cocktail and Angels on Horseback. The Prawn Cocktail – Prawns in a mayo, tomato ketch up cocktail was good. The prawns were of the highest quality but the cocktail was blander and less spruced up than the version that Peter Cat offers. Very good but the prawn cocktail at Peter Cat is a personal favourite. The Angels on Horseback which sounded great, chicken wrapped in bacon and served on a bed of tomato and sausage rice was a disaster as it was too sweet for my palate which is actually saying a lot. I was reduced to really forcing myself to finish the dish. Because of my multiple previous visits however, I will still vouch for the food. Do go there for the Old Kolkata dining experience as well as the food! Order either the Chicken Cordon Bleu or the Chicken Tetrazzini as your main course.
A meal for two at Mocambo without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 600/-
How to get there: Mocambo is on Park Street, on one of the lefts just after the Park Hotel. Most people in the area should be able to help you with the location.

Peter Cat, Park Street, Kolkata

Having a dish that is world famous is usually good news for a restaurant. I am sure that is the case also for Peter Cat and the world famous Chello Kebab, but I feel it over powers the restaurant as I have never and I am being honest here, I have never tasted a dish in Peter Cat apart from the Chello Kebab. You might, if you go there often enough, but I have always entered the restaurant with my mind made up. I will be ordering the Chello Kebab as the main course.

Peter Cat is an old style Kolkata restaurant and the décor is typical. The influence of England is obvious. A grand turbaned waiter at the entrance, rich carpets on the floors, comfortable large sofas as seats and a purposefully dim lighting arrangement – just the kind of place you want to take your lady love or your colleagues out for a grand dinner. Another obvious attempt by the English to create a corner in Kolkata reminding them of their home and carried on by the present management, I actually love it and Kolkata would not be Kolkata without these colonial influences.

The last time I was there I sampled the Chello Kebab obviously and the Prawn Cocktail. The Prawn Cocktail is one of Kolkatas favorite starters and is essentially Prawns served in a cocktail made with mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and a mix of herbs and spices. A superb concoction and a definite order if you want to sample Kolkata Continental cuisine, the version at Peter Cat slightly overdoes the lime and the sweet but I tend to like it more than the slightly blander versions going around at most restaurants. The quality of the prawns – another key feature of the serving was of the highest quality. The cocktail was followed by the Chello Kebab. The dish is incredibly simple and maybe that is why it is so famous. Two Sheekh Kebabs and a skewer of Chicken Tikka with Capsicum and Tomato pieces line the two sides of a bed of rice. There is a fried omelet on the bed of rice and 4 to 5 cubes of butter. The rice is flavoured with herbs and is supposed to be Persian rice. That is pretty much it! Many disparate pieces put together and served in a British setting. What is even more amazing is that the combination really appeals to 90% of the people who have tasted it. World Famous and I am not joking in the least. So much so that the menu card has been advertising the preparation as a “World Heritage Preparation”. Do go to Peter Cat the next time you are in Kolkata, for the Chello Kebab and for the Old Kolkata restaurant experience!

A meal for two at Peter Cat without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 550/-

How to get there: Peter Cat is on Park Street. It is very near to the Park Hotel.

Golbari, Shyambazar, Kolkata

There are dishes that define restaurants. The opposite however is rarely true. Golbari is however one such restaurant. Golbari – a hole in the wall eatery in North Kolkata defines the Kosha Mangsho which is basically nothing but your regular meat curry, the curry is slightly reduced more than usual, hence “Kosha”. Why I say Golbari defines the dish, is that it serves as the benchmark for the mutton curry and serves as the comparison point of what is the weekly gastronomical highlight in the regular Bengali middle class – the meat curry. Non Bengalis might be surprised to read this but the highlight in the Bengali’s food week is the mutton curry eaten on Sundays. You must realize that fish is eaten everyday and hence is not a highlight. Golbari serves if not the best, easily the most famous Kosha Mangsho in Kolkata – and that is reason enough to go and sample the preparation.

Golbari is a hole in the wall eatery. It is named so, because of the circular façade of the building that hosts the restaurant (Gol in Bengali means round) and would not be more than 400 sq ft including cooking area. The tables at the restaurant are no more than pieces of wood jutting at the sides where you have to sit side by side and eat. It is also not very hygienic as you essentially have waiters and customers almost walking over you in the tiny space. However, the food is good and you will often find a queue outside the eatery waiting for a chance to enter the restaurant. The smart thing they have done to manage the crowd is that you have to pre-order and prepay before entering the restaurant. Not that you cant order more, but the essential order has to be placed prior to entering the restaurant.

The food is legendary and does not disappoint. It will be possibly the richest meat curry you will have in your life. Almost too dark and too oily for most palates, I think it tastes good but you must be careful that you do not have too much if you are not used to rich food. The quality of meat however is not the greatest and when I go there I usually go for the Mutton Kheema which is cooked in the same gravy. The other highlight of the restaurant which is not talked about that often is the quality of the roti which is had with the meat. There is a layering of ghee which makes the rotis very soft and fantastic to taste. Apart from the meat, the restaurant also has a whole range of chops and cutlets which are apparently good but that is second hand feedback. Overall a must visit purely from the point of view of tasting the benchmark of the ubiquitous mutton curry. Go and order the mutton kheema and 2 rotis.

A meal for two at Golbari without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 200/-

How to get there: Golbari is right of the 5 point crossing at Shyambazar. It is the main crossing in the area and is easy to locate. It in on a point where the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on horseback faces you!

6 Ballygunj Place, Ballygunj Place, Kolkata

6 Ballygunj place is part of a relatively recent trend that is being seen in Kolkata of traditional Bengali eateries. The evolution of Bengali eateries being seen in Kolkata is rather interesting as the Bengali usually tends to have a certain disdain on authentic Bengali style fish, and other dishes being cooked outside of his, or his aunt’s home. I believe it is due to the increasing cosmopolitanisation of the city and the increased nuclearisation of the Bengali family that is leading to the increase and demand of such restaurant due to the paucity of time that is essential in the cooking of these Bengali delicacies. I guess modernization does have its drawbacks, the women of the Bengali household are increasingly spending time at office rather than in the kitchen and a new niche of restaurants has been created. “6 Ballygunj place” is among the finer options of authentic Bengali cuisine in Kolkata.

The last time I was at 6 Ballygunj place we ordered quite a spread, given the choice available, keeping the order down to just four dishes was an exercise in restraint. We ordered the Gondhoraj Chicken for starters, and for main course we had the Bengali “Mishti” or sweet pulao, Daab Chingri and Chitol Maachher Muittha.

The Gondhoraj Chicken is an innovation of the restaurant, it is essentially boneless chicken cooked with a strong essence of lemon rind and coriander leaves. It is an experiment that has worked very well. The taste was exceptional and left us almost hoping for an extra stomach. The Sweet Pulao is one of Bengals favorites, essentially a fried rice with cashew and kishmish (a dried sweet raisin), the rice was slightly grubby than ideal but then, the pulao went excellently with the other dishes that we sampled. The other slight downer was a little bit extra salt than ideal on the pulao.

The Daab Chingri and the Chitol Maachher Muittha were the two highlights of the meal. The Daab Chingri is one of the most visibly alluring dishes you can order. The presentation is one of the highlights with the prawn cooked with mustard and coconut presented inside a cut coconut (daab) and served from it. I believe that the dish is steamed in the coconut shell which imparts the flavor for the dish. The Daab Chingri at 6 Ballygunj Place was very tasty without making the mistake of erring in being sweeter than essential.

The chitol maachher muittha which is basically a fish goshtaba and is easily a highlight of the restaurant as well as in all Bengali cuisine. The dish is also incredibly difficulty to cook at home and is highly recommended for Bengalis and non-Bengalis alike. It is also an excellent way to enter into the delicious world of fresh water fish for people who are not used to the taste or have problems with the texture. The fish tastes almost line a meat kofta and serves as a great way to break the ice with fish. The gravy was also mildly spicy and contrasted excellently with the sweetness of the pulao.

A Bengali Meal is incomplete without something sweet and the restaurant excelled in that department also. It combined modern cooking techniques and Bengal food by creating the Notun Gurer Ice Cream, Notun Gur is a particular delicacy of Bengal and is essentially the raw material from which rasagullas and Sandesh are made in the winters. The notun gur is easily one of the most wondrous ice creams I have had in my life. They also add a bit of melted Gur to add an even greater flavour to the ice cream. The Ice Cream is so good that it merits visiting the restaurant on its own. An absolutely brilliant meal and highly recommended.

A meal for two at 6 Ballygunj Place without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 800/-

How to get there: 6 BallyGunj place is located at Ballygunj place in Kolkata, the address is actually 6 Ballygunj Place. If you are driving from Park Circus towards Gariahat, you have to take the left past Kwality restaurant in Ballygunj Phari. The road is narrow and will emerge after crossing Blue Chip guest house. You have to take the right after the guest house hits a T junction. The restaurant will fall immediately on your left after taking the right at the T junction.

Haka, Mani Square, Eastern Bypass, Kolkata

Haka is one of Kolkata’s newer buffet outlets. It is a new restaurant and is a part of new modern Kolkata and has a lot going for it. The location is great. The look and feel of the restaurant is young, bright and appealing. The décor is chic and uses the typically Chinese red and black colours rather well. The seating is smart and very comfortable and the waiters are smartly dressed and very attentive. They also do a pretty decent job of customer service as apparently they strike up a good rapport with customers and their families. A great job on the get up, seating comfort and customer service.

The food? OK I guess but not of the standard that Kolkata Chinese occupies in my mind space. The food is buffet, a – la – carte options are not available at the restaurant. The spread is decent. Two soups, three starters, a rice, a noodle and an option of four main dishes split down the middle in terms of vegetarian and non-vegetarian, plus a dessert of vanilla ice cream and an interesting milk dumpling. The food was not bad at all but not a single one of the dishes caught the imagination in the way it should. Overall the restaurant seemed like a decent option for a young family to go and have a meal after watching a movie or spending time at the mall. I would definitely not recommend it as an option if you are just looking for a good Chinese meal. Kolkata definitely has far better options!

A meal for two at Haka without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 500/-

How to get there: Haka is on the top floor of Mani Square Mall situated on the Eastern Bypass.

Kareem's, Galleria, Powai

Firstly, Kareems at Powai is in no way related to the similar sounding Karims in Delhi. Not only is the spelling different, the Mumbai chain spelling a “double e” against the “i” of Delhi, the font is different, the logo colors are different and alas from the point of view of the Mumbai restaurant, the quality of the Biriyani is completely different. Not that Kareem’s in Mumbai is devoid of brilliance some of the food at the restaurant is of a very high standard, but you need to know what to order. You need to steer clear of the Biriyani!

I love the décor at Kareems, it is one of my favorite restaurant decors in Mumbai. The restaurant has brilliantly used the natural beauty of the Hiranandani Gardens, has take advantage of the natural roof the Galleria building provides and has made the seating space in the restaurant completely outdoors. Yet, and this is where Kareem’s deserves a pat on the back, one does not get a sense of any lack of hygiene that is so evident in the food court next door. They also have an open kitchen and you can see the chefs at work, as well as the succulent kebabs hanging from well ordered sheekhs in front of you.’

My favourite dish at Kareems is the Peela wala daal and the Kali Miri Kebabs. Both are extremely tasty, the chicken kali miri kebabs have the overwhelming taste of pepper, but the chicken is very tender and very amenable to whatever the marinade that they used. The daal however is the highlight and is one of the better daals I have tasted in any restaurant, rivaling the Kaali Daal at Bukhara. The daal is definitely not at rich but is served with a Tadka, which Kareems does an excellent job of. It is however important that you finish the meal at Kareems with the daal, as the Biriyani really, really sucks, one of the worst that I have tasted. The other dishes whatever I have tasted are not very great either. Kareems is a restaurant that combines the brilliant with the pathetic. Hopefully when you do go there you will order the brilliant.

A meal for two at Kareems without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 450/-

How to get there: Hangla’s is on the first floor of Galleria in Powai.

Hangla's, Galleria, Powai

Hangla’s is probably the best name possible for a Bengali, restaurant that serves primarily snacks, and that is what Hangla’s is. “Hangla” is the Bengali word for greedy and I think it makes for a great name for a snack joint. Most people, on seeing the sign, break into a smirk and are immediately curious about the kind of food on offer at the restaurant. Gluttony after all is one of the most popular and safe of the seven sins, and along with lust, probably the Bengali's favourite!

Hangla;s is situated on the food court at Galleria, Powai. It is no more than a hole in the wall and shares rather unattractive seating with 5 or 6 other restaurants, all operating on a primarily home delivery based business model. The service is almost non existent with dishes arriving at their own sweet time. You will be lucky to get what you order and it’s about a one in a million chance that you will be served on time, if you have ordered anything outside a chicken roll.

The last time I was there at Hanglas, I sampled some chicken Rezala with Paratha and some mutton biriyani. I had actually ordered Mutton Rezala and Chicken Biriyani but was served the opposite. It was also served rather late so we went along with what was brought before us. Excellence in operations is obviously not one of the restaurants strengths. The Chicken Rezala tasted ok, but seemed to be more like a Chicken Kassa rather than a Rezala, if it was indeed the Rezala then it was the most curd-free Rezala that I have had in my life. The Biriyani was decent without setting the world alight, but Kolkata Biriyani always tastes good as the same is infrequently available outside Kolkata. What was brilliant though, were the Parathas which were served with the chicken. Soft, tender and going excellently with the chicken that was served! Although brilliant, the parathas could not completely salvage the meal as the service really sucks. Placing an order at the restaurant seems to be rather pointless. It is advisable to stick to the rolls which are tasty, if slightly expensive.

A meal for two at Hangla’s without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 450/-

How to get there: Hangla’s is on the Galleria food court in Powai. The food court is on the first floor.

Pind Baluchi, Nehru Place, Delhi

I love chicken! I mean I just love the bird! The bird lovers and animal rights activists might hate me for saying so but I believe that the bird was just created so that the homo sapien could breed it, eat it and drool over the many wondrous preparations that emerge out of it. I have eaten more than my fair share of chickens and the two preparations of the bird that I absolutely adore are the Fried Chicken, and the Tandoori Chicken. Not just any fried or tandoori chickens however, but specific ones. If you want to have Fried Chicken, it has to be at KFC, thanks to the Colonel, the standardization is great and chances are that you will have one very near wherever you are. If you want to have Tandoori Chicken, it has to be in Delhi, either at Karims or at Pind Baluchi.

Pind Baluchi has an iffy entrance to say the least. It is right in the middle of a bazaar and is located on the first floor of the market, unless one has been there before one is really not sure if the winding staircases are leading into a high quality restaurant or to a shop for electronics repairs. The interior however is a lot better. They have modeled the interior on the village or the “pind”, there are makeshift trees and décor on the walls trying to impart a village atmosphere and doing a reasonably successful job. The seating is comfortable and the waiters are prompt as is the pace at which the food is delivered on the table.

Apart from the obvious Tandoori chicken, we ordered the other specialty of the North, the butter chicken. Combined with the butter naan, it made for a great meal, albeit slightly high on the cholesterol count. But when in Delhi, especially in winter, cholesterol count should not be on your priority list. The tandoori chicken was all a great tandoori should be, just the right amount of masala, soft, yet not at all undercooked, carrying the flavour of the tandoor yet not with a single unwanted char of carbon. Totally delightful and somehow a version that at least Mumbai and Kolkata have been completely unable to replicate or reproduce. Down right awesome!

A meal for two at Pind Baluchi without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 500/-.

How to get there: Pind Baluchi is located on the first floor of the main market at Nehru Place. You have to ask around a bit, but the Tandoori Chicken will make it all completely worth your while.

Pal Dhaba, Sector 28, Chandigarh

Pal Dhaba is one of Chandigarh’s more famous outlets for some really nice tasty Punjabi food. I chanced on the restaurant during my last visit to Chandigarh and was not disappointed at all. Pal Dhaba immediately conveyed what all Dhabas are meant to. Go over. Sit comfortably. Enjoy some very fresh, tasty and hot food at extremely reasonable price.

The décor at Pal Dhaba is very rudimentary. Not exactly Khatiyas but not much beyond. Units of 4 chairs and a table pepper the restaurant floor giving the view that food is the clear value that is to be expected. The service is well like that of a typical Dhaba, do not expect to be waited on. A decent amount of arm waving will be required to get the waiters attention even if the restaurant is not exactly packed. The service is also slightly on the slower side. The other slightly economy driven aspect was the refusal to serve onions at the table. The rising prices meant that one had to order onions for Rs 20 a plate! Otherwise you had to do with the mooli (or radish) and the ubiquitous green chutney!

The food was delicious, as is expected in a Punjabi Dhaba. We ordered Masala Chicken and Mutton Keema Kaleji, with some Roti. The Chicken Masala was basically a form of chicken Kassa with a bit more Garam Masala than usual, it went down very well with the roti and served to warm the body in the Punjabi winter. The Keema Kaleji was good without being exceptional, basically a few pieces of mutton liver mixed with some mutton keema. The only issue I had with the dish was that the liver and the Keema did not go add anything to each other and may have been tastier as separate entities. The rotis were warm and soft, like Punjabi rotis should be. Overall a great meal, the place would be highly recommended to get a typical Punjab dhaba experience in Chandigarh.

A meal for two at Pal Dhaba without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 350/-

How to get there: Pal Dhaba is in Sector 28 in Chandigarh. Impossible to miss once you approach the main market.

Yana, FC Road, Pune

Beware the Western Indian Sizzler! Beware the heaps of rice on a hot plate! Beware Yana! However if you are reading and promise to learn from this blog, please ensure that you ask that no rice be served with your order and Voila! You will actually find a decently cooked/ sizzling piece of meat at your plate. Yana’s is a past favorite with the college going crowd in Pune before the culinary scene exploded in Pune’s face giving far more options than was previously available. Chances are that you will still find a decent sprinkling of the college going Pune resident spending hostel money on some well cooked slightly pricey meat. Yana’s although primarily a sizzler joint, also does serve a stir fry where you have to choose the combinations and the sauce to watch the chef ‘wok’ up the dish right in front of you.

The décor at Yana’s is nice and bright. A primarily reddish interior allowing for decent sunlight and giving a nice casual feel to the restaurant. There are two floors of seating, with a mezzanine floor which was empty at the time we went, but to be fair we went on a weekday afternoon. Yana’s does not however get marks for service as the service was very slow and we were wondering whether they had forgotten about our order altogether! The food? Decent if you avoid the rice which makes the dish a right mess. The last time I was there I ordered the meat fillet sizzler which was Ok without being spectacular. The most interesting aspect was the filleting of the meat and there were neat slices which made the task of eating the meat very very easy and simple. Overall a rather unspectacular meal at a rather high price, not recommended unless you are yearning for a lot of sizzling meat in the middle of Pune.

A meal for two at Yana without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 1000/-

How to get there: Yana’s is at Shivaji Nagar, Pune, right on F.C. Road.