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.