Devouring your favorite meat at a chophouse! - Wise Owl Steakhouse, Kolkata

On a hot Saturday afternoon we had very little to do when we decided to overcome the lassitude and make a long pending visit to the Wise Owl Steakhouse with my Zomato voucher. To start with, few months back I was overtly excited to learn that Kolkata has got its first steakhouse in a locality that is so close to my heart and that’s flanked by several notable eateries on the either side of the street. And then when I received this Zomato voucher I was somewhat on cloud nine!

Steakhouses being not so common in this part of the country, people tend to misjudge and misread these places, their charm and their offerings. These rustic heavens for meat lovers are rare in the culinary landscapes of Kolkata that used to revolve around Indianized Chinese, North Indian, basic South Indian, Mughlai, and west Bengali cuisines until the recent gastronomic revolution that is sweeping the city for good. Steakhouses or chophouses are eateries that specialize in serving individual portions of meats, primarily beef steaks that are served along with sides like mashed potato, sautéed veggies, baked potatoes, etc. Most steakhouses also offer other cuts of meat as well such as roast prime rib, veal, etc.  

If we go by history, then these steakhouses date back to London in 1690s, serving individual portions of meat called chops. These places were in general open only for men. Then the steakhouses started in the US in late 19^th century near New York in addition to the existing bars, motels and Inns. And now Americans flock to these places, whether they are expensive chains or a local joint whose décor hasn’t changed since the Progressive movements of late 19^th century :) Whatever the case maybe, steaks are a happening thing and an institution in the US. Chophouses also started serving diversified food items apart from beef steaks, like pork chops, lamb kidneys, strips of beacon, baked potatoes, apple pies, etc.

Anyway, coming back to Kolkata, our very own laid back city of joy got its first chophouse that was so unlike the restaurants spread across the city. Wise Owl Steakhouse is the palace of meat we are talking about. The place is located on Purna Das Road just above the Wise Owl café which has earned goodwill in last few years. 

When you are approaching from Gariahat you need to take left near the Triangular park where you will find the Raymond’s showroom to get into this Purna Das Road. You can park your car easily in front of the Wise Owl café on the street, but not for free :). You need to walk past the café and take the lift to reach the top floor, and then you need to take the stairs to get to the roof to check-in to this western country looking steakhouse.

The ambiance is surely out of the box when compared to other Kolkata eating joints, but very apt and common when we think about chophouses. It is open air, covered on top with asbestos, with wooden flooring and trademark rustic coarse-looking wooden chairs and tables with planks clearly visible giving that vintage artsy look. The overall ambiance is very close to a country ranch eating joint with the woody warmth filled in all the nooks and corners. But this ambiance reminds me of beer gardens and it’s a pity that you won’t get beer with your steak here (it was not available at least when we were here), that’s mainly because of a school which is there beside this property. The music which is being played is also perfect, mainly they were playing John Meyer when I was here for the lunch. All in all, the ambiance created with these custom-crafted furniture, wooden flooring, open kiss of the humid city air (!) and mostly western country songs give the right kick to dig in to your favorite piece of meat with some not-so-hard aerated drinks to go with.

Now, coming to the crux of the matter – lets discuss about the food and beverage. To start with I quite liked the clipboard menu, kinda felt tensed recollecting my school Exam days during this March-April period :) But when we opened the menu it was filled in with names and descriptions of lip smacking items. Out of those I ordered for:

a)      Pork Chops

b)      Chicken Breast steak

c)      Sweet fresh lime soda

Well, let me be frank, the portion of the regular pork chops was huge! I really struggled to finish it off. These were real slow cooked pork chops, grilled to finish with mushroom and crème sauce spread all over it. I was pretty hungry when the food came in and with the first bite it felt that I was there at the right place at the right time. 

Though I was keen to hug the chef but I unconsciously went on to finish my meal :) The pork chops were served with butter-herb tossed veggies and mashed potato. Though I felt the mashed potato could have been creamier but anyway the entire dish was just close to perfection. The pork fat was served in generous quantity along with the meat, and the meat was not at all stiff and felt amazing to consume! If not melt-in-your-mouth type, but it was surely one dish I can recommend to others. 

From my past experience, I found that these are best done if use baby back or the usual pork ribs that will be tender and moist. Here also the dish was flavorful and the meat was moist to satiate my soul and my taste buds. Infact I ended up consuming a bit too much fat than I usually do since it had a smoky and that ‘cooked on the grill’ aroma. Not sure, but I guess the marination with the spice rub can be done taking a bit more time. Sautéed veggies served included tossed brocolli, beans, carrots, and babycorn which went well with the pork chops. Overall, I can safely go ahead to recommend this dish to pork lovers! The Chicken breast steak glazed with herb extracts, had the mushroom sauce served separately; the stake was done perfectly with the signature smoky aroma to the chicken that made things interesting. It tasted real good with the sautéed veggies and mashed potato. Overall the steak was firm yet juicy in the centre with tender fibers. Though I felt the quantity could have been increased a bit. Overall a nice option if you are not in to try pork or beef. This visit of mine was kinda left mid-way since I couldn’t try the beef stake after all that hogging. Well now I needed some drink to wash down the stuffs and sweet lime soda with that correct amount of fizz did the trick (only one suggestion – please get the tough black straws). Oh I was so filled! Yes, that was a lovely meal to say the least!

But I would like to mention one thing – we were the only ones dining at that place on a weekend, that felt a bit weird! Not sure if proper publicity is being done, because people need to come and check out this place and the things it has got to offer. The service staffs were well informed, prompt and courteous, no issues with that.

Here are my overall ratings –

Food quantity: 3.7/5

Food quality: 3.8/5

Food presentation: 4.2/5

Value for money: 3.8/5

Ambiance: 4.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Steakhouses are new in the city and we should be open to this, for sure. But you need to be well-informed even when you are eating a steak, or rather a beef stake. 

For example I like my beef steak to be done Medium Rare, that implies it will be overall firm but it will be warm, red and succulent in the centre that’s coming from the myoglobin protein which are there in the muscles. So you have to pretty much sure about your personal preferences and then you will find the steaks to be just perfect. 

Steakhouses are here to stay and this place is just the trendsetter. I wish them all the best and hopefully they will do well in near future.

If you liked this post, please do give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends! 

Cheers! 

 

Food tasting at Cremecup.in (the online bakery)

Cremecup.in is a NEWLY OPENED online bakery which delivers all over Kolkata and that too for free! The products that they have got are amazing and there is no compromise in terms of quality. I was recently contacted by them for a food tasting session at this place and I opted for a doorstep delivery at my workplace. I found the delivery was seamless and the package that was handed over had some well-designed robust packaging.

The place serves a wide range of products namely – cupcakes, brownies, croissants, doughnuts, birthday cakes, tarts, quiches, cheesecakes, cookies, muffins, etc. The point which should be noted here is – all their cakes are 100% eggless and the rest of the products are all vegetarian. But being at ardent non-vegetarian I can vouch for the vegetarian products that they serve, which are extremely flavorful and very well-prepared. I have learnt that they have their own kitchen so they can monitor the activities and assure better quality control and checks.

Let’s discuss briefly about their Website since anyway it is their medium to interact with their customers or the users. The website cremecup.in is very nicely prepared with an unruffled User Interface (UI) that exudes elegance which is quite important to build an image when the customer logs in for the first time. I found it to be pretty user friendly. The homepage directs you to the shopping page, you need to login and then in the shopping page you have varieties of products available (mentioned above in this post) lined up on the left and which are hyperlinked. Once you click them, the corresponding page opens up with the sub-categories of that product which you can directly add to your shopping cart. Then you can continue shopping or checkout to directly purchase that product right away (though various payment options that includes COD). Overall I loved my experience with the website and playing with it, I specially loved the fact that all the product images are available that helps in deciding your order quickly (although you can’t zoom in those pictures or you don’t have their descriptions written there). All the product photographs are crisp, clear and vibrant and the banner photograph is also very apt and enticing! The prices mentioned in the website are tax inclusive and no extra packaging or delivery charge is added on top of it. Only couple of observations – there is no Live chat option which is sometimes helpful and I found the Subscribe (to product offers/newsletters,etc) button is not functioning with the ‘on-click’ operation, but I guess these glitches can be fixed anytime.

Now coming to their packaging – your order will be efficiently delivered on bikes and the corrugated boxes will be hard and robust specially designed to combat the humid and hot city weather. The cakes will mostly be packed with dry ice insulations by their side and all the items whether it is cake or croissant will be delivered in those robust boxes. It is so well packed that it is ensured that the product inside is not making too much of a movement.

In the complimentary box which I received for tasting purpose had six amazingly soft and fluffy Croissants with flavorful fillings! These were some best-in-class products and I have never tasted such premium quality croissant in any bakery in India. There were three varieties of croissants (also called ‘cuerno’ in Spanish, meaning ‘horn’) delivered with two pieces of each. I absolutely loved the Spinach and Cottage Cheese croissant, only I wish a bit more filling was there, anyway the filling provided was marginally optimum in quantity. 

It was basically the Indian palak paneer kinda flavor but the ultimate magic was spelled by the croissant cover that was not at all flaky or hard. It had a hint of moisture in there and redefined the word ‘soft’ with respect to the croissants. Each layer of the yeast-leavened dough was consistent and was not breaking apart from the other. 

The Tandoori paneer croissant was also good and a bit spicy for kids but anyway very flavorful, it is hard not to devour such appetizing stuffs if placed in front of you! Frankly speaking I am really not a croissant fan but now I am absolutely in love with the Cremecup.in croissants!      

To conclude, I would like to mention that their products are always oven-fresh since they prepare it after you place the order. The delivery and packaging which has already been discussed is simply top-notch. The online ordering system provides you convenience and with the Cash-on-delivery option available it is more than blissful to order the best quality freshly baked cakes, croissants, muffins or quiches to be delivered at your doorsteps. I guess we were really waiting for this to happen in Kolkata. Thanks Cremecup.in for making Kolkata a lot more ‘delicious place’ to live in!

Cheers!  

 

Bloggers Meet over a Food Tasting session at Wall Street Bar, Kolkata

The city is changing every day and with every passing day it keeps amazing us with its latest offerings. Last Saturday I was invited to a Bloggers Meet over Food Tasting session at Wall Street Bar, Shakespeare Sarani and I was so excited to be at the new Gastro-Pub which is now becoming a landmark for great beverages, food, hookah and entertainment. It is serving some amazing Chinese, Continental, Italian, and Burmese dishes and they claim to have specialization in Italian and Burmese, well I truly agree with that since my Khow Suey was really nice! :)

I would say in the summers this is one really cool place to chill out especially if you are close to Theatre Road area. As a matter of fact I have heard that this six months old joint used to dish out only vegetarian dishes couple of months back but recently they have introduced Non-veg items as well and infact we were there to sample these newly introduced non-veg items and few other newly introduced items in their refurbished menu. This place has got a well-stocked bar and they are gaining popularity in preparing some power-packed cocktails.

LOCATION - - - - - The place is very easy to locate and it is there right on the main road, just try to locate the address 10A Shakespeare Sarani. It is there on the 1^st floor of the Shagun Mall. You need to take the stairs and you will be guided to this place on the 1^st floor. Since the place is quite dimly lit so if you are coming in straight from the sun, you will find it difficult to adjust your vision for a while. While you step inside the restaurant you will pass though an alley with nice colorful gift items displayed on the wall shelves.

AMBIANCE - - - - - This is one of the great features of this place. The ambiance is pretty chilled out with loud music and a DJ churning out some awesome stuff to keep you glued. As already said the place is pretty dimly lit, that sets the mood right and helps you unwind pretty fast. The seating arrangements are nicely planned and are quite spaced out. 

The lights over the bar counter are somehow lovely since you find the filaments have been placed in the Absolut vodka bottles which looks great! The wooden finish flooring makes the place looks classy and the comfy high chairs along the strategically illuminated bar counter (with glowing WSB logo on the wall) makes thing even more gorgeous! We were seated on the normal couches by the side of the bar counter and they were very comfortable and you have the television right there by your side where you can enjoy sports and the live telecasts, if any. The walls are adorned with catchy taglines neatly framed and there are couple of walls showing the New York skyline. 

Wall Street, historically is known as the center of New York's financial district and the WSB is themed on that. It is also surrounded with corporates in the heart of the city so you get to see office goers by the end of the day loosening up and chatting over few drinks. The 50 seater dining zone is spread across 2,000sq ft where people meet to dine and drink. The wooden décor gives this pub the urbane feel along with the signature Harbour View on the walls. The DJ is placed at one of the corners with US flag in the background, and overall - the place is sure to attract the young generation and hope the décor and ambiance stays like this over the years.  

FOOD - - - - - We tried several food items and we feel this place truly puts loads of stress on food although it is a pub, this is one such odd pub which also scores high when it comes to food – maybe that’s why we call it a Gastropub since in a Gastropub you should expect great food items and meals besides pub grubs. But a gastropub is expected to serve high-end beer as well, which was not included in our list of beverages. Here you get great meals for your lunch or dinner besides lip smacking finger food. We tried a few snacks, some cocktails and couple of complete meals. Overall the food was really nice, they kept the flavors and aroma like the way it should be to maintain authenticity keeping in mind the use of fresh ingredients. We had in our menu – Gondhoraj mojito, Grilled and baked mushrooms, Chicken ginger strips, Bekti Cupcakes, Khow Suey, Bhuna Masala chicken wings with burnt garlic rice, and Cheese Fondue. I loved the –

a)  Baked mushrooms – They were extremely well prepared with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. These were well marinated mushrooms stuffed and baked with ricotta. And it is served with a three cheese medley.

b) Ginger chicken strips – This was served with tartar sauce and the chicken strips were perfectly crispy on the outside and well marinated and prepared inside. It’s worth a try.

c) Cheese Fondue – The dish looked stunning with a flame keeping the thyme flavored cheese fondue warm, it was served with sautéed veggies and crunchy bread cubes. Overall the dish tasted good.

d) Bhuna Masala chicken wings with Burnt garlic rice – I loved the burnt garlic rice served in this dish in quite a good quantity, the Bhuna masala chicken was served with some salad. The dish had a single piece of chicken wing which was very well prepared, was a bit tangy and bit spicy, it went good with the wok tossed rice, nice option to try out!

e) Khow Suey – This was the best dish that I tried at this place. It was soul satisfying and pretty filling. As we know it is a soup and noodle based Burmese dish and here it was pretty authentic, aromatic and very flavorful. The aroma of coconut milk and the squeeze of lemon spelled its magic and kept me glued to it till the last nibble! Add the rice noodles and condiments provided alongside and take the taste to the next level. This is one dish you should try if you are here at this place!

f) The Rocket launcher – It was an awesome cocktail with a mix of five spirits that can leave you tipsy! It was served in a big glass bottle and is surely for four or five to share!

g) Bellini – It is one of the classic cocktails which is a bubble-peach flavored sparkling wine based drink and it was truly smooth and awesome!  

h) Wall Street special – This is the house special cocktail. This was served in a long glass with cranberry and orangey flavor and on my request the spirit levels were kept a bit low. It was served with thing apple slices and a cherry on top, perfect!

Besides the great food and beverages, WSB has designed special nights like –

a)      Karaoke Nights on Wednesdays,

b)      Live Band on Thursdays,

c)      Ladies night Out on Fridays,

d)     Switch Night underground music on Saturdays,

e)      Stand-up comedy nights on Sundays.

The scenario is further enhanced with Bollywood, Hip Hop, House Music, Unplugged, and Deep House music. The eatery offers Happy Hours from Sunday to Friday from 3pm to 8pm.

SERVICE - - - - - After the great section about food we come to the not so great section where we discuss about the service. The servers/waiters are polite but they need to be trained a bit. I was not served couple of items which was disappointing; it was not served even after asked for. One such item was the Bhetki Cupcake that everyone had and they appreciated. After requesting for several times the Bar menu was then handed over to me! And after these, my Wall Street special cocktail was unintentionally dropped on me while serving another food item, but I am really very grateful to Mr. Aayush Karel, the co-owner of this place who immediately came over to me and helped me out to recover and took my phone to get it dried!

Anyway, it was nice to meet the chef-in-charge Mr. Deepak Kr Majumdar. He came to us, took a seat and had a chat with us answering our queries, he is truly a very humble and soft-spoken person and we learnt that he had started his career with The Park and Flury’s in Kolkata before settling down at Mumbai.

SUMMARY - - - - - If I am asked to rate this place I will give it 3.7 out of 5 points. It could’ve scored higher if the service would’ve been a bit better. I really loved the food items which were served to me. The cocktails were amazing as well. I have already discussed about the ambiance and it is just right for a gastro-pub. Food is one of the major focus here and it clearly shows. WSB is best known for its well stocked bar and the house cocktails, its Burmese and continental food and also for its range of pub grubs. The Switch Saturdays which promote underground music with alternative DJs every week makes this place more attractive on the grounds of clubbing.

Finally, Mr. Aayush, the co-owner is extremely polite, dynamic and friendly, we had wished him all the best and I would again like to wish him the very best for WSB and for all his future ventures.

Cheers!

Food tasting at Lokaahar – Poila Boishakh special menu!

There are sudden turns and spots that you come across in your life where you can smell your lost innocence and the essence of your roots that you have somehow left behind in this mad rat race or in the quest to achieve something that brings quantified satisfaction. We are forgetting how to stare at nature or at the playing kittens, how to pluck an aromatic flower or to play with the leaves while humming a Rabindrasangeet. All these thoughts suddenly rushed back into my otherwise confused and pre-occupied head and teleported me couple of decades back when I was a little kid and used to make clay idols and spend afternoons reading Bengali ghost stories! Lokahaar takes you back to your roots – that’s the definition of this eatery to me! I have never seen a restaurant so homely, so much grounded. There is honesty sculpted in every brick of this peaceful and serene ‘Bangali’ restaurant. 

There are no flashy stuffs, no marketing gimmicks, no strategically served dishes (in lesser quantity) and no indifferent servers (forget about the owner) like you get in most renowned eateries across the city, or maybe across the country. Here the owner Mr. Basudev Ghatak is one exceptionally humble and gem of a person who loves cooking and gets immense satisfaction if his guests like the food that has been served.

Frankly speaking I was touched since no where in the city I experienced such personal care and homely treatment in a restaurant, maybe because this place is way more than just another restaurant. It stresses on the lost glory and cultural traits that we disregard these days. 

It tries to unify Lok-Krishti, Lok-Shilpo, Lok-Sanskriti and finally Lok-Ahaar. This means it tries to bring together various aspects of our rural life - like the daily work of a farmer, the regular art and craft work that is being produced at various rural areas, the different cultural events that are still going strong in the remote villages all across Bengal or maybe in the neighboring states, and finally the food - that has got its origin in rural undivided Bengal – here comes the term Lokaahar that signifies the age-old dishes which maybe our grand parents or great grand parents used to have regularly but very rapidly they are vanishing from our plates and from our kitchens. But before they vanish from our minds or memories of our tastebuds, Lokaahar tries to step forward to save this amazing dishes and old rural cultures and art forms. This is an effort which first needs to be applauded. And then we can delve deep into the details of the interior décor and other elements that build this place.

The place is located in a serene para (locality) of Jodhpur Park and if you are near South City Mall then you can take the alley beside the Leder land shop (opposite South City) to reach this place. It is infact the ground floor of a typical south Kolkata house that has been converted to this eatery with utmost care. The iron gate has welded art forms that depicts the four aspects (Lok-Krishti, Lok-Shilpo, Lok-Sanskriti and Lok-Ahaar) which has been discussed above. We find the fourth aspect ‘Lokahaar’ is further depicted in details when we step inside the eatery. The hand painted figurines (poto-chitro) and floral designs on the walls along the framework of the door will surely grab your attention. The paintings have been done by a rural painter couple who came down to Kolkata only for this purpose. 

The paintings depict various stages of a countryside Bengali marriage and how it used to be, it shows the shikaar porbo or the hunting activity, the celebrations and processions, the paalki ride, and then the ‘paat pere khawa dawa porbo’ or the feasting episode where everyone is enjoying the food that is being served at the wedding ceremony where everyone is seated on the floor in a line like it used to be at rural weddings years back; the servers are serving with buckets in their hand that contain the food - maybe dal, curry or rice. 

All these pictures make me feel so pleased deep inside, they are so calm, so peaceful, and so much rooted. The walls are painted in a typical clay color with two shades that give this place the perfect feel along with those wall paintings. Them comes the tables where you dine and the chairs along with it. Both have been curved from solid and heavy wood and have been prepared by skilled artisans from Burdwan. It just can’t get more authentic! But the glass top with these finely crafted tables somehow goes really well but I guess typical wooden top with more paintings on it could have been more interesting, though that might have been bit difficult to maintain and clean. The entrance has more interesting elements that interest me - like the colored glass walls or the Tulsi plant that’s near the gate. The dining area is basically divided into two rooms including the living room portion.

There is one room which is basically an office but it is a treasure trove for a collector who is interested in collecting rural decorative items and food items from distant villages, etc. But this section is basically to promote the artists and talents from far-away villages who have produced such gems, and there is almost no margin to make profit from this section. The owner Mr. Ghatak also said that they wish to go to the distant villages and record local folk or baul songs and bring the recordings back to play them in his restaurant, this is such an innovative idea and I hope I will be back soon and then this amazing background music will be playing.

Now let us discuss a bit about the food which is surely the showstopper at this place. It gives you reasons to come back to this place again and again. I was invited with couple of my Panch phoron team members to taste the Poila Boishakh dishes. The place has got nearly 100 food items on its regular menu, out of which they have carefully selected 40 items for Poila Boishakh. And we were served few of these items from the special menu. Here are the items we tried –

• Aam porar Shorbot – This is not a new drink to us, but the preparation here spelled magic with the first sip. The mild refreshing appetizing drink had solid mango pulps and pieces in it that was great to have besides sipping the optimally dense juice. Perfect one to order for if you are in on a hot summer day, the correct mix of spices in there will build your appetite and overall it will cool you down and help you settle down real fast.
• Bhaat (steamed rice) – Mr. Ghatak had already informed us that he stocks different varieties of rice from various parts of the state and beyond (including black rice from Manipur) which are also for sale and these go out of stock real fast. That really speaks volume about the premium quality of rice we were served, the quantity of rice served was more than sufficient, which were perfectly prepared to go with Bengali curries and dal. 
• Shuktoh – Truly speaking I stay away from shukto since I do not like a bitter tasting dish, I know it’s my weird personal opinion and many do love shukto which is perfectly fine. But here I was pleasantly surprised to taste it, it was bit bitter but the strong aroma of ghee and other ingredients eclipsed the notion that I had with shuktos, in general. It was surprisingly very flavorful and I was blown away with the first morsel, Mr.Ghatak was extremely pleased when he found a satisfied smile on my face after tasting this dish! The generous amount of veggies, ghee and posto in there made it taste heavenly. This is a must try dish!

• Narkoler Daal – Again a flavorful basic Bengali dish that had no flaw in it, the proportion of grated coconut in it was just perfect, the aroma was perfect, the density was perfect, everything was amazing! And yes, I ate one full plate of rice with this dal, so you can well imagine its taste now!
• Aloo Bhaja – And yes, the one plate of rice with dal was aptly accompanied by thinly sliced fried potato or as we call it, jhhur jhhure aloo bhaja. It was very crisp and tasty and there was a sprinkle of chaat masala on it making it exponentially flavorful.

• Echorer Dalna – Oh boy I loved this, I know I am repeating the same words but seriously I can’t help myself. All the dishes were cooked so well. The jackfruits were well cooked and cut into small pieces, the gravy was bit rich and spicy, but not too oily or soggy. The proportion of garam masala was just right and I felt like tasting some chicken or mutton dish, just too good!
• Dhokar Dalna – This dish was served specially for my vegetarian friend but I tasted a bit of this and found the dhoka was extremely fresh and soft, the gravy was again tasty and had sipped well inside the pieces of dhoka. Nice option for vegetarians.

• Bori diye Pabda Maachh er jhol – The big piece of fresh pabda fish was awaiting for my first bite when I realized this is another gem of a preparation! The well cooked gravy with well soaked bori was dense and packed with flavors, since the fishes are bought daily so they were found to be very fresh and the garnishing with coriander leaves and overall presentation was also top notch.

• Aam-er Chatni – It was served in a cute little bowl. The chutney was not too runny and neither too thick, just the perfect density to be honest. The piece of mango was tangy and fleshy and the dish was sweet and sour, it had just the right amount of sweetness according to my old-school tastebuds!

• Kaalo Chaal er Paayesh – This was an out-of-the-box dish to add some punch to the whole meal. I had never tasted this before, it is prepared by cooking black Manipuri rice (which is soaked in water overnight) with milk and sugar in it, The milk is boiled again and again so that it thickens and forms a semi liquid substance with the boiled black rice in it. We could still feel the rice when we had this dish, it was still not over-boiled. Overall the taste is subtle, not overtly sweet with a nice aroma and taste. Really an innovative sweet dish. You should try it if you visit Lokahaar.

 

But one thing is for sure, it is better to book your table and menu by calling them an hour ago, or even better if you can call a day ahead your visit. All the dishes are cooked after you place the order. The vegetables, meat and fish are bought everyday in the morning, so if you do not book in beforehand you might feel annoyed finding your favorite item is not available.  

As I said above, apart from these few items there are many items there for the Poila Boishakh menu, also there is INR 649 all inclusive buffet menu (available from 14^th till 24^th April), here are the items –

Aam Panna, Sada bhaat, Polao, Lal Shaak, Kumro fuler bora, Narkol koraishutir mug dal, Alur dom, Potol bhaja, Echor dalna, Bhetki Bhapa, Chicken/Mutton Kosha, Chutney, Papad, Mishti Doi/Kalo Chaler payesh, Dorbesh/Mihidana.

Overall, at Lokahaar it is recognized that it’s not only the taste that matters but it is also the ingredients that go in to those recipes making them more memorable. The team takes pride in carefully selecting each of these ingredients from the wholesale market to give you the fresh taste and the genuine experience of authentic Bengali cuisine! For people coming first time to Kolkata and looking for a great joint to taste the local Bengali food, this is your place to be, you will straight-away be introduced to the basic age-old dishes of Bengal, the dishes, the food which were shown in the old Bengali movies. People of this generation haven’t even tasted everything which our grandfathers used to relish in their meal. Remember the scene where Tenida was gorging on Bengali dishes in the movie Charmurti? The sheer innocence and love for food displayed in those few minutes portrays the true love for food still present in a Bengali and with these basic age-old dishes vanishing from our menu it’s really concerning, to say the least. 

Hopefully Lokahaar can stop this golden elements of Bengal and these golden dishes of Bengal from fading away. I wish Mr.Ghatak and the entire team of Lokahaar the very best and I am sure soon people will realize the essence of Lokahaar and the authenticity of the dishes it offers!

I wish everyone happy dining at Lokahaar, try their Poila Boishakh menu and try their various interesting dishes and stunning flavors that will amaze you everytime, hope you keep on hogging like Tenida at this place! Surely no one wants to be like Pyalaram who is left only with ‘potol diye singhi maacher jhol’ and ‘bashok patar rosh’!! :)

Cheers!    

 

Food tasting at XII Zodiac for Bengali Food Festival 2016 (on Poila Boishakh)

I was invited to the Poila Boishakh food tasting event held at ‘Twelve Zodiac’ multi-cuisine restaurant housed in the Fern Residency Hotel at Rajarhat, Newtown. The ‘Twelve Zodiac’ is Kolkata’s first Sun-sign based restaurant and it has lined up an array of delicious and authentic Bengali dishes to tickle your ‘bangali’ taste buds on the occasion of this Poila Baisakh, and this occasion is a very special one for all the Bengalis across the globe. 

Though we celebrate the English New Year but Poila Boishakh remains very close to our heart, it is the time to unite with your entire family, spend some quality time with them and also it is the time to celebrate with our loved ones. And having a scrumptious Poila Boishakh lunch or dinner is almost compulsory for us :) So we have a great option here, the Bengali Food Festival at The Fern will offer the Bengali delicacies from April 14th to April 16^th this year. At this event we could taste the dishes that will be offered during this period.

Location - - - - - The Fern Residency Hotel is located very close to Chinar park crossing ar Rajarhat, if you are approaching it from City Centre 2 then it will come to your left hand side before you reach the Pipal Tree Hotel, it is just beside the Yokohama showroom. You can park your car inside the hotel premises.

Ambiance - - - - - The hotel has a very classy and urbane interior décor and the Twelve Zodiac restaurant is located there on the 2^nd floor. The restaurant has a partition in between, not sure if that can be removed. The furniture is very elegant and the ambiance is pretty relaxed and calm, it takes a lot less time to settle down if you are at a place like this. The colors that dominate the place are blue, white and grey with wooden-finish walls. On this occasion the dishes were all put on display at one side of the restaurant which was very well lit.   

Food - - - - - Age old delicacies from the kitchens of villages of undivided Bengal will be on the menu during the 3-day long Bengali Food Festival. As I’ve said above people loves to unite with their family and loved ones, or rather with their roots during this time, and these items on the menu will surely help them revisit those roots somehow or the other. 

The spread is really awesome and savoring so many authentic Bengali dishes at one shot is a great feeling and indeed very much filling as well :)

So let me just run through the featured dishes – Kumro Fuler Bora, Bok Fuler Bora, Murshidabadi Murgi, Begun Pora, Macher Matha Diye Jhuro, Dhakaiya Murgir Kebab, Pabda Mach Bhaja, Eachor Chingri, Dinaj Purer Kosha Mangso, Macher Matha Diye Muri Ghanto, Basanti Pulao, and many more.

The Bengali Food Festival spread will have loads more than these few featured dishes. On this food tasting event we had the privilege to preview few special items from this huge Food Festival menu. I tired their Mirpuri Badami Sarbat, and Aam Pora Sharbat  among the mocktails, both were very refreshing, if you like your thirst quencher to be bit diluted then you will love these. I have also tried their Bhaja Muger Dal with rice and it tasted good, I could smell the fresh ingredients used in that dal which was thick as expected and very much Bengali to its core, I finished it off even without the rice! 

The Aloo Posto was nice but it was not dry, it had some semi-thickish gravy and tasted good but when I found some onions in it and when I spoke to the Chef they informed they have added some tadka to the Aloo Posto which was bit unconventional according to me. The Chhanar Dalna was fresh and bit tangy with a thick gravy, Executive Chef Mr.Roy informed it just had onion and tomato paste in it that does all the trick. I also tried the Basanti Polao which had subtle flavors and aroma to it, nothing too rich. 

Next I tried the Rajbanshi Murgi which is basically a dish from the Rongpur district and quite spicy to suit the North Bengal palate, it is a chicken curry with garlic, turmeric, ginger and potatoes in that thick stew. The Parshe Maachh er Jhal was nice and fresh, the dry and bit spicy curry was going good with that fresh fish. The gravy was made by grinding fresh mustard and chillies, Chef said the dish had all the flavors from these two ingredients and from their correct proportions. Overall all the dishes tried were good and with a much more extended menu you can surely guarantee a great feast.

Also just wanted to mention that this Poila Boisakh menu launch event was graced by the presence of admired personalities like Tollywood actress Suchanda Vaaniya, and Painter Wasim Kapoor.

Service - - - - - The place has got really prompt and friendly staff. They are courteous and very flexible, the Executive Chef took out the time and was standing there beside me while I had my meal explaining every dish that I was having, really I am thankful for these insight and support. Service plays a very vital part in this industry and I am sure they will do well in this department. 

Overall - - - - - You should try out this new place and specially if you are near/at Rajarhat Newtown area. The business hotel with its urbane décor, and relaxed elegant ambiance of the restaurant will surely make your experience a pleasant one. A great addition to the culinary map of Newtown Rajarhat area. So let’s make this Poila Boishakh really special with the choicest delicacies of Bengal. 

You will get these Lunch and Dinner buffet at INR 899 plus taxes on these three days starting from 14^th April. Come and enjoy this lavish spread of delicacies at XII Zodiac, Kolkata’s first Sun-sign themed restaurant where food is served according to one’s sun-sign.

Cheers!