Monsoon Sizzler Fest at Skyline, Regenta Orko's Hotel

I have met no one who doesn’t like sizzlers, not only for the awesome flavors but this dish is loved for its visual and dramatic appeal! The dramatic hiss of steam almost gets you glued to the dish from the moment it is placed on your table. As far as I know this dish had originated in Japan and then it went to the US after World War II where it became immensely popular. And today this is one widely accepted dish that is loved by all. In Kolkata, there are several iconic places which are known for their sizzlers like Mocambo, Peter Cat, etc and apart from these places there are several other restaurants which serve amazing versions of this dish.

Few days back I was invited along with few Panchphoron food bloggers at the special tasting session for the upcoming Monsoon Sizzler festival from 5^th of Aug (till August end) at the rooftop pool side lounge and restaurant called Skyline, at the Regenta Orko’ss Hotel. Here you can choose from the wide range of vegetarian and non-vegeterian sizzlers along with perfect accompaniments of sautéed veggies, mashed potatoes, breads or tossed rice and sauces of your choice. The sizzlers start from a nominal price of INR 299 only. 

Now this place is located at Kasba near the Prantik Pally and very close to Acropolis Mall. If you are looking for directions you can ask for the Hotel Regenta (Orko’s). The Hotel is a grandiose property that houses Skyline – the roof-top poolside lounge.

At Skyline poolside lounge you basically get all those kababs, grills, steaks and sizzlers which are very reasonably priced. The roof-top pool is there on top of 7^th floor and it overlooks the skyline of South and East Kolkata, so the place is quite rightly named I guess! The poolside ambiance is of course very chilled out, informal and relaxing. So people basically come here to enjoy in the pool and unwind while having some awesome flavorful food beside the pool. The Sizzler festival will be organized at Skyline only, so that people can enjoy their smoky sizzlers in the open air by the poolside. And really there isn’t any need to describe a breezy roof-top poolside ambiance which can be imagined as an epitome of relaxation and symbol of opulence in some places.

Here at this festival you will get both vegetarian and non-vegetarian sizzlers. Below are the variants of sizzlers available.  

a) Potato Tikki Sizzler with parsley butter rice – This dish is served with creamy cheese sauce and sautéed vegetables. This is surely doing to get your appreciation at such an affordable rate of INR 299.

b) Vegatable shaslik sizzler with mexican rice – It is served with barbeque sauce and french fries, the Mexican rice is surely an attraction for this dish.

c) Organic pasta and vegetable sizzler in tomato sauce – It is served with roasted garlic bread. It was an amazing option for the vegetarians.







d) Grilled cottage cheese sizzler in paprika sauce – This is served with grilled pineapple and french fries, we loved the paprika sauce and the cottage cheese was really fresh.

e) Lemon garlic chicken sizzler with coconut rice - This is served with mint sauce and french fries. It is one lovely option especially for that lemon garlicky chicken.

f) Indo chinese chicken sizzler in red chilli sauce – It is served with pilaf rice and sautéed vegetables which was really refreshing and tad out of the box for that Indo Chinese fusion element.

g) Grilled Bhetki medley sizzler – This is served with creamy potato and sautéed vegetables like carrot, broccoli, beans, etc. We just loved it for the immensely flavorful grilled fish which was very fresh and lying on that bed of amazing creamy mashed potato. All in all, you can’t miss this, it’s just insanely good.

i) Barbecued prawn sizzler with garlic butter rice – It was served with rosemary grilled vegetables and as the name goes it was the most majestic dish available on menu. But keeping the quality in mind you can surely go for this most expensive sizzler on menu, which is priced at INR 699.

We particularly loved the Grilled Bhetki medley sizzler which is priced at INR 499, it’s one great buy for sure. From my side a big thumbs up for this one. Sizzler steaks are usually prepared on high-heat just to sear the outside, leaving the inside moist and juicy. This attribute was surely found in these sizzlers here, so you can come over and give it a try. Overall this festival is just too good to be missed. More because you get to try these sizzlers sitting by the lovely picturesque rooftop pool. The service is very prompt and helpful. So mark your calendar and give this place a try. I am sure you won’t ever regret :)

See you all there at the Monsoon Sizzler Fest!

Cheers!

 

Amazing food tasting session at 18 James Long, Kolkata

This Urban Asian Kitchen is located at the postal address 18, James Long Sarani (Behala) and that too at a place like Sakherbazar, that’s more than astonishing to me; well I will discuss about the reasons later :) I have been raised in this area and the place where ‘18 James Long’ restaurant is situated today used to be our school bus stand! I know very well how this place used to be couple of decades back. But today when I return back to this place the transformation of this piece of land quite rightly amazes me. People in this part of the city were never really that fond of experimenting with their meals or cuisines and stuff. Seven-eight years ago the best restaurant in Behala used to be the infamous Panna Kitchen or the overcrowded Haji Saheb. Since childhood I was particularly upset with the culinary scenarios at Behala. The place had several amazing sweet shops but nothing more than that. There was no joint serving authentic continental dishes or any place serving amazing South East Asian cuisine. This urban Asian kitchen at 18, James long Sarani is therefore like of a pleasant surprise to me more than anything else. Now I am sure very soon we can have something like a gastropub or a microbrewery here at Behala. Am I dreaming too big, eh?

But on a serious note, you can mark my words that this place is one of the best eateries in this part of the city, and they have got huge potential for sure. Their momos are so damn good that you can travel all the way from Dum Dum or maybe from further Northern fringes of the city just to get a bite into those juicy delicacies. Food is definitely a huge plus point here, and yes the prices are very reasonable as well. Only I would like the seating arrangements to be increased and maybe some more work is still pending from the ambiance perspective to make this place one of the finest joints to dine at. The food exudes the class which is somewhat missing in the ambiance, which can surely be achieved. The place has got simple wooden tables with similar chairs or black moderately comfy couches. The couches are basically placed there upstairs. On an average 30-35 people can sit and dine here at max which is quite alarming since the food artists demand more audience here, for sure.



On the ground floor there are only few small tables which are placed nicely without making the place look cramped up. The beautiful shelf with Buddha head statue and other Buddhist decorative elements will surely catch your attention at the ground floor. The shelf has got a staircase quite close to it that will take you upstairs where there are only about 4 tables very comfortably placed. The decors are minimal, though it’s true such simple décor is good when you want to concentrate only on the food.

Anyway, now let’s come straight to the food. I was invited to this amazing place along with my Panchphoron blogger friends. Suman, the owner was more than polite and friendly. We kept no stones unturned in understanding our taste buds and offered us a plethora of dishes to get them tasted by us for the feedback on them. The session was quite interactive and he asked for live feedbacks in the end which we happily shared. So when I to document them, I have to pen them down bit more in a organized way. So here you go, these are the items that we tried: 

BEVERAGES

a) Pineapple Julep – It had the right balance of Pineapple, Orange, Mint and Lime. Clearly the best drink of the evening. It was refreshing and served in huge quantity in than big fat glass.

b) Basil and litchee Mojito – This could have been tad better. It comprised of Litchee, Cranberry, Basil and Lime and truly speaking it had all the ingredients to make things great. Maybe the aroma of basil and flavor of lime needs to be suppressed a bit, somehow the litchee and lime was not going too well.

c) Cucumber and Pomegranate Blossom – This mocktail comprised of Orange |Pomegranate, Cucumber, Coriander roots and Lime. You won’t find drinks usually served with real coriander roots in them, as most of us know coriander roots have some benefits and are used to prepare several Thai dishes. This drink also could have been much better. Actually the punch of all these ingredients didn’t go very well in the first place, though it was pretty refreshing in the beginning but things didn’t go well when we kept on sipping. The flavor had nothing more to offer and was flat and tad unpleasant in the end. Needs some work on this, maybe the ingredients need to be altered and re-added in correct proportion.

SOUPS

a) Tofu with mushroom and tomato – To start with this was a soothing, mild flavored clear soup with Shitake mushrooms, peeled tomatoes, soft tofu and coriander in them. The proportions of ingredients were right and the stuff was warm enough to be appreciated.

b) Birds nest soup – This was an awesome mildly spiced, very thick soup with loads of chilies, ginger, garlic in it and was topped with crispy noodles. This didn’t look so promising but it really tasted out of the world. You should try it if you are at this place. Must try!

c) Wanton Soup – Wanton soup always attracts me, I am a fan of pork wanton soup available at Tung Nam in the city and everywhere in the world I try Wanton soup if that’s there in the menu. Here the soup was very good and it’s surely worth a try, you won’t get see weeds though like it’s there provided elsewhere in the world, but it tasted really good. It was a soothing sesame oil flavored clear soup with stuffed chicken wantons. The wantons had a perfect silky skin and full marks for that. Must try!

d) Thai Tom Yum soup – This was the regular Thai TomYum soup that you get to taste everywhere. It was a simple Tom Yum flavored clear soup with dash of lemongrass, kafir lime leaves and galangal. The proportions were correct though I felt the soup was tad too watery which can easily be rectified.

SALADS

a) Sweet and sour cucumber with mint – We had two salads here to be tasted, and this one was the veg salad. It was pretty simple and very refreshing indeed. Cucumber was the basic ingredient and I was pretty pleased since the dish was kept simple which was crucial, apart from Cucumber, it had the mix of palm sugar, rice vinegar, dash of lime, topped with Thai birds eye chilies, coriander and mint. The end result was quite appreciable. Worth a try!

        

b) Chicken and shredded cabbage – And this was the non-veg salad that was offered. It looked good and tasted great! I will surely go back and order this salad, it was so soul satisfying. You call these to be comfort foods. It had the mix of shredded chicken, Chinese cabbage, roasted onions, dash of mint, coriander, palm sugar, ginger and Thai red chilies in it. It was mild in the end, not at all spicy and in fact it tasted a bit sweet which was a pleasant surprise. It was an awesome mix in the end. Must try!

APPETIZERS

a) Chicken and Cilantro momos – Maybe I tasted the best momos in town! Yes, you have to taste to believe this. It was so juicy with such an awesome oily silky thin skin. It had the perfect amount of chicken, onion, garlic and cilantro stuffing in it that tasted great, and moreover with every bite you can feel the juicy core and the juices coming out from within. Order for it and savor it with your eyes closed, there is nothing more satisfying. I will rate it 6 out of 5 :) Must try!

b) Pork and Brandy momos – Momos at this place are awesome. Since I have explained it while writing the description for Chicken & Cilantro momos so I won’t repeat the same stuff again, but the pork filling promised a bit more punch which I felt was missing. Maybe the meat needs some more treatment to bring out the best porky flavor before it’s put in those silky skins.

c) Crispy chilli baby corn & mushroom – A run of the mill dish that had a bit of twist in it with the mushroom pieces in it. It had the crispy fried baby corns and mushrooms tossed with bell peppers and scallions on a sweet and chilli sauce, tasted nice in the end though I am not very fond of fried baby corns!

d) Asian sweet and sour chicken with spinach crackling –  This was a battered fried chicken strips dish that was tossed on a sweet & sour chilli sauce and served with spinach crackling, burnt garlic and toasted sesame seeds. Tasted really nice and the right mix of the ingredients brought out the true flavors. The spinach crackling was something new which you will not get in every eatery and I really loved trying it with the juicy chicken strips. Worth a try! 

e) Thai chicken wings – Everyone loved fried chicken wings, but this dish here was not that great since it was bit too much fried and the covering was hard in the end. It was basically the well marinated Chicken wings which were deep fried. It was flavored with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal, but the tad too hard coating marred it somewhat. Hope it can be easily rectified.

f) Santung (Pork) – This was another awesome starter that we tried. It was crispy fried pork slices tossed with scallions, burnt garlic and chilies on Chinese cooking wine. It was simply a joy to have this stuff, and the dish was finished in a span of 3-4 minutes I guess. Must try!

g) Prawn fire crackers – Again an amazing starter, by now we were used to the awesomeness of the food at this place :) This was a crispy fried marinated tiger prawns wrapped in wanton sheets; it had the right crunch of the crispy covering on the outside and was soft and bouncy inside for that fresh prawn. And yes, I loved that dip as well. Must try!

h) Thai fish cakes with chilly garlic mayo dip – This was the last starter that we tried at this place. It was again very nice though we were quite full by this time. This was the minced Basa fish with lime leaves in it, it had the right punch of lemongrass, chilies and Thai curry sauce. They were shaped into bite sized cakes and then they were pan-fried with a delicate coating of panko crumbs, quite an joy to savor in the end :)

MAIN COURSE

a) Butter garlic fried rice – To start with, I just loved this simple aromatic fried rice that seemed to be very fresh and honest to me! It was basically a wok tossed fried rice on butter and just topped with burnt garlic, things were kept simple and flavors and aroma was available in abundance. Worth a try!

b) Spinach pan fried noodles – This was a simple pan fried crispy noodles topped with green thick Spinach based gravy, the presentation was not good but it tasted really amazing. I would request the owner to work a bit on the presentation of this dish to make it look appetizing, but other than that the taste and preparation was just perfect. Must try!

SIDES

a) Baby corn & Mushroom hupak style – This was a veg dish served in a lovely red bown with a long handle making it look like a large cup. It was prepared with Baby corn and mushroom which was stir-fried with black bean sauce and pickled onion. Simple and awesome.

b) Sliced chicken with basil and oyster sauce – This was quite a common preparation, it had nicely diced chicken pieces with bash of basil and with an oyster sauce base. But to me the taste could have been tad better; maybe the proportion of oyster sauce was bit on the higher side.

                        

c) Butter & garlic prawn – Again an amazing prawn dish, and yes this was the last one. It had awesome fresh tiger prawns in it tossed with white butter & garlic sauce, again a lovely side that one should order. Must try!

DESSERT

a) Banana fritters with soft vanilla ice cream – Though I tried it here but I am not a great fan of banana fritters in general. But the item here was really nice; the mashed banana in there was consistent in taste. And when you mix it with some soft vanilla ice cream it tastes great.

                                       

b) Darsaan with vanilla ice cream – This is quite a common dessert these days, the darsaan was just perfect with the right crunch and sweetness to them, tastes great with the dollop of vanilla ice cream scoop. Worth a try!

c) Fried ice cream – The fried ice cream looked great and the presentation was really nice, but we were pleased when we actually tried it. The corn flakes and cookie crumb coating was really nice and the vanilla ice cream within was perfect in the end. I guess it was very briefly fried since it was not very crispy like I have had in few other places. Worth a try!

So, in the end we were very pleased with all the items served, overall they were amazing and a sure food is prepared with utmost care at this place. The service is good and prompt as well, but the servers should be bit more careful since there were couple of plates slipping here and there that we noticed. Otherwise the owner was very courteous, helpful and informative and I hope all the servers are well informed as well about the dishes. Overall I will give this place 85% positive feedback and I wish them all the best for the coming days. Keep serving the great food that you have been doing and equations will be quite simple from there on.

Readers, if you haven’t been to this place, go give it a try! You won’t regret.

Cheers!

 

Chemical reaction that exudes joy - Tasting session at Mumble's lab

Few days ago I came across the best Ice cream parlor in town that plays with the diatomic gas with atomic number 7! This place was in my wishlist for a long time but since I do not frequent these places much somehow it never happened to me unless I received an invitation from the management few days back. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited their ‘Lab’ at Hungerford Street. Now why is it called a lab and why am I keener to call it a lab rather than an ordinary ice cream parlor? Here playing with the diatomic liquid is very common, people are so used to juggle with this cryogenic liquid day in and day out, hope by now you have guessed the liquid right, it is LN2 or Liquid Nitrogen that still retains the diatomic character of the nitrogen gas even after liquefaction.



LN2 is used for rapid freezing and as a refrigerant that is even used for cryocoservation cells, tissues, blood, etc. It is used as a coolant in several fields like spacecrafts, computer hardware, astronomy, and in food science. The last topic interests us most, isn’t it? Food science or molecular gastronomy is the hot topic nowadays in the city. It is one modern or rather urbane style of cooking or preparation of dishes that utilizes the scientific innovations. With reference to Mumble’s lab let us only discuss about use of LN2 in preparation of ice creams here, since the branch of molecular gastronomy is really vast; and maybe we can discuss about some other branch of it in another blog post of mine :)

As we were discussing, LN2 is used for preparing ultra smooth ice creams that differs a lot from the regular ice creams that we have. Not only you enjoy these liquid nitrogen ice creams, but it’s a pure joy to watch them being prepared in front of you, and there you will feel as if you are standing in a Chemistry lab! I will talk a little about history before discussing more on today’s Mumble’s Lab since that will help us understand this stuffs a bit better. We always think this is a new-age stuff of using LN2 in preparation of food and ice creams, but in reality we got a reference of use of LN2 in the food preparation back in 1890. It’s one recipe book called ‘Fancy Ices’ written by celebrity cook Agnes Marshall, who was also a writer and entrepreneur working with frozen desserts, LN2 ice creams, edible ice cream cones and modern ice cream machines and freezers and her cookery school. She was very keen to adopt new technologies and was very popular in the culinary scenes of Victorian period. She was also called the ‘Queen of Ices’, which was pretty apt for all her contributions in this field. But later in 1904 she suffered a nasty fall from a horse and died the following year in 1905.



All the rights of her books were sold and very soon somehow she got washed out from public memory. She has always been neglected by historians and today no one remembers her. So this is the sad story of the person who conceptualized and first worked with LN2 ice creams over a century back.

Anyway, moving on from this sad history let’s now discuss more about the science behind this after which we can just discuss about the flavors we tried at Mumbles’ Lab (Kolkata). As already said, LN2 is actually nitrogen in liquid state (odorless, tasteless and colorless) which is at a very low temperature. It has a boiling point of approximately -195.8 degree Celsius. And because of its extremely low temperature it should actually be handled very carefully. Do we know why? Have you heard of frostbite or cold burns? If handled without care LN2 will give you these cold burns. So you will find people working with LN2 wearing gloves, though you won’t get burns if you touch it for a fraction of a second or so.




Preparation of LN2 ice cream has a little science behind it as well. It has a reason why to opt for LN2 ice creams. For these kinds of ice creams since LN2 evaporates very rapidly, the temperature dip is drastic and the speed of chilling leads to formation of much smaller or no ice crystals what in turn provides a smoother texture to the dessert compared to other ordinary ice creams. At Mumble’s lab you will find the magic liquid is stored in Liquid nitrogen dewars or cylindrical flasks from which the liquid is taken out and poured in the blenders having the mixture or batter which is being prepared with all the ingredients and flavors; and then again it is given a swirl which results in formation of the ice cream which is later scrapped out and served in a paper cup.

The place is very spacious and in no way you can just call it an ice cream parlour, it has got enough seating arrangements and free uncovered floor area that divides the seating area from the lab area or the place where the ice creams are prepared and people keeps playing with LN2. The lighting is just perfect and the place has got beakers and flasks hanging from the ceiling and funky ice cream flavor periodic tables adorning the walls. The Mumble penguin is all over the walls who is in mad love with ice cream and has decided to put Nitrogen that fills up 78% of Earth’s atmosphere into good use by preparing LN2 ice creams for us :) Thanks to Mumble’s penguin for that noble thought!

Now let us quickly run through the flavors which I tried at this place along with other bloggers from the Panchphoron group.

a) Orange Caramel – This was actually the best flavor that we tried during this tasting session and it was served in the very beginning. It had a wonderful intermingling of Orange and Caramel flavors that was very soothing and refreshing. It had a deceiving brown color to it and you can never guess it will taste so orangish by looking at it. So there is surely an element of surprise in store here for everyone. If you visit Mumbles, you should try out this flavor. And yes, the quantity served in that little cup was somewhat huge, which also pleasantly surprised us.

b) Ginger Honey Basil – The effect of sudden surge in Thai food joints in the city has brought us much closer to the lovely aroma and flavor of Basil leaves. And I was amazed to taste these leaves with medicinal benefits in an ice cream. Seemed it was somewhat inspired by the age old secret tonic for cough and cold, that too in an ice cream, quite sarcastic actually :) The stuff had mild sweetness from honey, fresh aromas from the crushed basil leaves and that ultimate zing of the ginger. Worth a try!

c) Bournvita – I am myself very fond of Bournvita flavor, but here it was not going too well with the ice cream, may I only liked it when served hot :) The ice cream here had some dark chocolate mixed in it I guess along with the Bournvita, that didn’t allow the fresh flavor or aroma of Bournvita to emerge or top. Will give it a miss next time.

d) Cookiewich with Nutella – This was another amazing flavor that I tried here. This was a deconstructed ice cream sandwich. It had a dollop of LN2 ice cream with two handmade cookies on top.

e) Thandai – Quite loved this Thandai flavor that is so homely. This was probably introduced during the Holi season. And they are now continuing this flavor since it received such a good response. It was just yum with the dash of flavors from fennel seeds, almonds, etc and was super smooth with crushed pista sprinkled on top.

f) Kairi Pudina – It felt as if I was having molten ‘Pulse’ mango candies in an ice cream cup. It was an amazing tangy ice cream that we tried which had the basic essence of kachhi Aam, kairi and pudina and was spiced up to another level with crushed mango candies and chaat masalas. In the end the result was overtly tangy and very unique. Worth a try!

g) Tiramisu – This was one rich and subtle flavor that we tried. It had the rich flavor of coffee liqueur and was amazing to taste it as a super smooth ice cream. It has some smokiness to it that was lovely to say the least, the stuff had some dusted coffee sprinkled on top as well. Worth a try!

h) Peanut Butter – We tried this Peanut butter flavor but found it was not that great to be honest. It had the sweetness and saltiness of the peanuts, but some zing was missing, maybe by this time we had done too much ice cream tasting and anything short of brilliant was failing to impress us.

i) Strawberry – Nothing extraordinary, but it delivered the mildly sweet strawberry flavors as expected. The smoothness of LN2 ice creams only elevated the richness to another level.

j) Dragon Balls – This was an item which they are still experimenting and haven’t yet launched. These are Marshmallows dipped in LN2. Once you dip it in LN2 that gives it a nice crunchy exterior but it’s still soft mushy from inside. Then when you bite into it, bit of smoke comes out and that’s why they prefer to call these dragon balls.

k) Your ice your way – Now here at Mumbles lab you can provide any ingredient to them and they can convert it to a cup of delicious ice cream. Maybe that’s why they say – your ice cream, your way! Here in this experimentation section (and that’s why I prefer to call this place a Lab rather than an Ice cream parlor) we tried:

(1) Nutella with Snickers, Mars and Twix – Here the customers everyday invent their own concoctions since they get to try out and mix their own choice of flavors and ingredients. Anyway when we opted to mix Nutella with Snickers, Mars and Twix we found it has turned out to be overtly sweet, but in any case it tasted pretty gooey and rich in flavor and had the right crunch.

(2) Krishna nagar’s Shorbhaja – When we were busy in our lab session one of our blogger friends walked in with few boxes of Shorbhaja from Krishna nagar, she had no clue what’s going to happen next with those amazing stuffs caged in sweet boxes! Those rich and milky sweets were put into the blender along with vanilla base and we gave it a swirl. It was an amazing twist in the tale, quite literally. We were overjoyed with the end result. It tasted just heavenly. And due to the LN2 effect it was quite gooey and smooth as well.



We were extremely filled just by having all these ice creams! It was an amazing evening and we were overjoyed when we received that awesome gift basket from the management while we were leaving. That added more to our joy, we were anyway super happy after that tasting session! Guys, I will keep this last note very short - if you haven't yet tried LN2 ice creams at Mumbles, you are surely missing out on something. Just make a move and grab your own cup of creamy, smooth LN2 wonders!

If you like the post, please share and give it a thumbs up! Thanks for reading my blog guys!

Cheers! 

 

#TagEat - Kolkata gets a food truck serving amazing food!

Whenever it comes to a Food Truck, the first thing I remember is the movie ‘Chef’ and the character of Jon Favreau (named Carl Casper in the movie) who quits his job as a chef at a Los Angeles restaurant after a nasty fight with a renowned food critic and made all ends meet after starting his food truck venture selling some awesome food across the country. I was really pleased to see the intense passion that Carl showed in the later part of the movie where he was running his own food truck, it clearly showed his love for cooking and food in general, and how much he loved his independent venture. So, last week when I received an invitation from the latest Food Truck named #TagEat roaring in the town I was pretty excited, since my personal experience says Food trucks never disappoint and always bring a smile to your face.

Food truck is a pretty common concept in the US. As the name goes, it is a truck or a similar large vehicle that has got all the equipments inside it to cook food items and then provisions to serve them as well. Customers generally gather in front of the food truck delivery window or gate and collect their food which they savor standing on the street or some may opt for take-away as well. As a variant of food truck you can also find Pizza or Taco trucks in the US which you won’t find here, at least it is not there in Kolkata. A full fledged food truck serving delicious and filling meal is a pretty new concept in Kolkata. But the first time I saw #Tageat, the new food truck in the town I was tad disappointed since it was not too big and neither was it ‘moving’. I always fantasize a food truck like it was shown in the movie ‘Chef’ which moved across the states and updated its current location on Twitter! Well, that’s a fun way to go ‘bout it that intermingles awesome food, good technology support, social media connection including building your follower base on social media platforms who will follow your truck and of course the fun of road trips! Food trucks I am talking about are something drenched in pure passion and love to live life with all its uncertainties.

As I just mentioned, #Tageat is the new gourmet truck that is stationed at Camac Street right in front of Fort Knox. It is quite easy to locate it since it is colored in black (with yellow stripes) and has some cityscapes painted on the sides. This gourmet truck’s menu is something that will amaze you considering its not that big in size; it runs the gamut of Indian, Tibetian, Mughlai cuisines and some lovely fusion dishes as well.



Most of the foods are quick bites in nature apart from filling dishes like Chicken Biriyani or Chicken Cheese mayo sandwiches. Here you basically get Vada Pavs, Sandwiches, variants of Maggi, chilled beverages, Kababs and Biriyanis.

Chicken biriyani

That’s the entire range which is on offer at present, all these categories have got several variants and most of them are delectable to be honest. The truck is owned by young entrepreneurs Tanay Kapoor and Laveen Thawani who  have taken up a rather unconventional profession since food trucks are still not a trend in India, but these guys are surely the trendsetters who chose an independent and unconventional venture over a comfortable job. Maybe these are their initial days, so they are stationed at one spot for ease of customers to track it but I am sure when they are bit well known they should start moving to various parts of the city and update their present location on various social media sites like facebook, twitter, instagram, etc to create more craze, fan base, fun and interesting twist in the tale. Also that way they will be able to cater to a huge range of customers.

Chicken reshmi kababs

Anyway, now let’s come straight to the food items I had tried that day when #TagEat invited me with other Panchphoron food bloggers for their present menu tasting session. Here are the items we were served:

1) Chicken Sarson / Tikka / Reshmi Kabab – Well, we were served three variants of Chicken kababs here. The Chicken kababs served here were flavorful and juicy, so that’s one common point that goes in favor of this place. The Chicken sarson kabab is something which I had tasted long back so I completely forgot how it tasted then. Here the Chicken sarson kababs could not evoke the past memories, but it surely did impress me. The strong flavor was a joy to have; it had some touch of mustard but was not overpowered with that flavor. Had a nice spicy kick to it intermingled with the juiciness of the meat, which is sure to impress. The chicken tikka and reshmi kababs are pretty common and here it tasted as it should be. The Tikka had the spiciness meter checked and dressed in lovely herbs. The Reshmi ones were creamy enough to impress our taste buds, they were already kept prepared, but were really fresh, so no complains. You can surely try the kababs here, no doubt.

2) Masala Cheese Vada Pav - #Tageat has brought the taste of Maharashtra to Kolkata and the flavors they are offering are better than some of the branded Vada pav stalls spread across the city. Well I am not a mad fan of vada pavs but I have tasted them at various places in the country and can identify the place serving them with correct proportion of spices and ingredients. Here the pav was well grilled and the vada was tasty and soft topped with cheese and mayo. You can surely give it a try.

3) Cheesy Chicken Momo – Well, I was touch disappointed with the Momos sold at this place.


The Chicken Momos still fared average I must say, but since I myself can prepare momos I could realize they were tad overcooked and the filling was crying for a bit more kick, a bit more garlicky maybe. The red chili momo sauce was still okay I must say. And the grated cheese covering did not go well with my palate.

4) Veg Cheese Momo – I don’t wanna go on talking about this dish since I liked it least amongst all. It was really over-steamed, the covering was way too soft and didn’t go well with me. The flavors were not too appealing as well, needs some amendments for sure.

5) Maggi Sandwich – Really a nice innovative or rather a fusion dish, The fried maggi was sandwiched in between well toasted breads forming the Maggi Sandwich. It was nice and can be modified by adding several other ingredients or veggies inside. The breads here can be bit less grilled and a layer of lettuce with a sprinkle of hebrs and basic veggies can do wonders. Still a lovely dish to try out! Anyway I would like to taste the Cheese Maggi at this place which is one of their best sellers.

6) Chicken Biryani – This was one of the best dishes I have tried at this place. The price of this one plate of biriyani was INR 90 only, that’s incredible considering the taste and quality of the food. And yes, it tasted awesome at that price. The rice was very fine and dry and was not too oily either. The sweet potato was simply yummy with loads of spices having sipped inside it, the chicken piece was nice and optimal in size. A must try!

7) Cold Coffee – I was impressed by the cold coffee here which was also their featured drink of the day to beat the heat. It was really pleasing to have since the balance and density of the drink was just perfect. It was really chilled and was topped with some Chocolate syrup for that ultimate jolt. Must try!

Well, while I was talking about the cold coffee, I remembered to mention few other points which are also crucial.

This small food truck has got several appliances inside it like refrigerator, Mixer grinder, Momo steamer, induction cooker, electric grill, etc. That is enough to give you all the flavors and a soul satisfying meal that you are looking for.

The other point that I want to mention is the magic behind their biriyanis – when we were there in the afternoon there huge biriyani handi was almost empty, the reason is no doubt the amazing taste at such an affordable price, but the credit must go to the ex-chef of Arsalan who is busy cooking this awesome stuff.

Final verdict: This place will get 8/10 from my side.

Pocket Pinch: INR 200-300 for two.

Must Try Items: Chicken Biriyani, Chicken Sarson kabab, Masala Cheese Vada Pav, Cheesy Maggi and Cold Coffee.

I wish the team all the best, and yes I loved the branded black #Tageat t-shirts the boys were wearing inside the food truck :) I wish they will set a trend that more and more entrepreneurs will come and follow. Food Trucks are really needed in this part of the country, let there be more of them. Hope someday I can see Food Truck parks and Food Truck rallies here in India as well. Anyway, there needs to be a solid starting point, and #TagEat is just that spark which can light up the big torch! Keep it up guys! Hope the word spreads real fast. Till then happy chomping!

Cheers!