Calcutta is a city which offers a huge array of food. Street food, sizzling hot made in front of you. Gourmet restaurants for every pocket. Of many cuisines , providing a global perspective. Its a gastronome’s delight And you can avail some of the following suggestions or call 9883520202 for more. 

Fast Food

Kathi Rolls – A filling which can range from succulent Kebabs to vegetables and paneer (cottage cheese) wrapped in flaky Parathas with a generous sprinkling of diced onions, lemon, green chillies. Egg is an option. A snack or a meal on the go. Nowadays you get an oil free version with Rumali Roti. However not a patch on the flaky oil soaked ones

  • Nizams is the pioneer in Central Calcutta
  • Kusum’s on Park Street
  • Dhabas and food joints offering takeaways all over the city

Chaat – sweet sour, tangy, Chilly, in various avatars. Puchkas are hollow balls filled with potato dipped in tamarind water. Jhaal muri is rice crispies tossed with onions, potato, mustard oil, lemon and tamarind. Pav bhaaji from Mumbai is bread rolls sauteed in butter served with vegetables tossed in butter. Etc etc. 

  • Vardaan Market on Camac Street has an interesting selection
  • Pandit near the Lake Kaali baari
  • Chowrasiya Chaat Centre in Salt Lake City Centre
  • Gupta Brothers, many branches
  • Haldirams, many branches
  • Zamaana on Lansdowne Road
  • Many more all over the city with every neighbourhood having a favourite

South Indian – Idli Vada Dosa served with Chutney Sambhar. The traditional way with variations being added to menus. There is a plethora of joints serving this but the best are in South Calcutta. A food you can’t go wrong with. 

  • Jyoti Vihar on Harrington Street
  • Ramakrishna Lunch Home on Lake Road
  • The Banana Leaf on Rash Behari serving also a thaali which is a full meal
  • Ramanees on Keyatala Road

Momos – Tibetan dumplings with assorted fillings. Many Street side vendor sell these but are not very good. A healthy filling snack. Spice it up with the sauce on offer. These are available in most Chinese outlets.

  • Blue Poppy on Russel Street
  • Haamro Momo on Chowringhee 
  • Grub Club. On Gol Park

Kachori Sabzi / Samosa- Potato curry or a lentil curry served with small fried pooris. The Samosa can be spicy or slightly bland with peanuts cauliflower. The spicy ones are in the Non Bengali shops. Available in most Sweet shops. The Bengali Radha Ballabi are slightly different stuffed with lentils.

  • Kaligodam in North Calcutta
  • Sharma with multiple outlets
  • Ganguram
  • Mrityunjoy in Lansdowne Market for the peanut cauliflower ones. Available after 4 pm

For traditional Bengali sweets (Mishti)

  • Nalin Chandra Das and sons – It has been serving the most delicious Kolkata sweet treats for over 175 years. Nalin Chandra Das is now a well-established brand and is widely regarded as the pioneer in making Sandesh. Don’t miss out on the mouth watering Karapak and Chocolate Sandesh.
  • Balaram M & Radha Raman Mullick – Serving happiness since 1880, this sweet shop is famous for its baked rasgullas, mango flavoured mishti doi and kheer kodom – a sweetened khoya dumpling stuffed with a rasgulla. Multiple locations.
  • Mithai – Renowned for its Mishti doi. 

For biriyani lovers

It all started in 1905, when Ahmed Hussain, a descendant of Nawab Wazid Ali Shah, a migrant from Lucknow came to Kolkata and opened a small restaurant on the ground floor of a hotel. Biryani is a rice cooked in dum with myriad spices meat and potatoes. 

  • Arsalan: Hit this spot for the Kolkata biryani. There are outlets across the city, including one in New Town. 
  • Aminia: Head here for great biryani and firni. Various locations.
  • Shiraz- one of the oldest in Calcutta
  • Rahmania – it has to its credit the chaamp which has a heavenly gravy paired with Biryani.

Chinese / South Asian Food

The Bengalis love their Chinese version. We get the Indianised Hakka version. The chances are that if you get this cuisine anywhere in the world , the chef would be from Calcutta.

  • Tangra Kolkata has a sizeable Chinese population that has called the city home for generations now, and the Chinese quarter of Tangra teems with glorious aroma of food. Feast at the conic restaurants like Golden Joy, and Beijing. 
  • Bar-B-Q – If its old-school, Indian-Chinese food that you’re looking for, any Calcuttan will tell you that Bar-B-Q is the undisputed leader in Chinese cuisine. The gravy noodles, fried rice, hot and sour soup, drums Of heaven (chicken lollypop for the rest of India) and spring rolls are just some of their must have items. 
  • Peter Hu – has delicious Dim Sums
  • Mainland China – The best stir fried greens are available. The other fare is good. Their lunch buffets are great value for money.
  • Burma Burma – It is vegetarian but has the best khow suey ever. If meat is not your thing definitely worth visit.

Iconic Eateries

  • Indian coffee house: This coffeehouse is a legendary adda, having served generations of literary scholars and artists such as Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray. Order their cutlets and kabiraji (chicken fried in egg and breadcrumbs) with coffee or tea.
  • Kwality: The pindi chana and the chicken reshmi kebab which you get in Kwality are unlike any other place in Kolkata. The kebabs, which come packed with finely vinegared onion which just melts in your mouth. 
  • Trincas: One of the popular spots is Trincas, continues to draw old-timers and travellers alike with occasional pub quizzes, comedy evenings, and jazz afternoons. It offers good quality continental and tandoori fare and plenty of cheap chilled beer. 
  • Flury’s Tea Room – Breakfast with Darjeeling tea, coffee, eggs, preserves, pastries brings back the essence of the Raj. For a taste of old-world elegance, visit Flurys on Park Street. Established in 1927, this iconic tearoom is famous for its English breakfast, delectable pastries, and a wide range of teas and coffees. The charming décor and vintage vibe make it a beloved spot for Kolkata’s elite.
  • Mocambo – The British brought their recipes and the Indian khansamas modified some. The outcome is a delicious blend of Chicken a la Kiev, Mulligatawney Soup, Bhetki Allenby, Roast Mutton etc

 

Party Time

  • Someplace else – Right next door to Trincas, is the The Park hotel. Its a tiny English pub, Someplace Else, is a beacon to live music in the city. There is a fabulous band playing here on any given day of the week, filling the air with riffs of rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, and blues
  • Skinny Mos – Has some cool music sessions. Nutcase the bar on the ground floor has quirky cocktails

Hindustan Park

Lunch and shopping Options

Art Deco, the elusive architectural movement was borrowed from Europe by the elite of colonial India, and centuries later, its layered shapes, rectilinear forms and casual symmetries have condensed into the very fabric of our built heritage. Unlike in the West, where Art Deco emerged as a post-war response to Brutalism, it had a different impact on Indian shores.

Art Deco was one of the first styles of modern architecture. It was influenced by different styles and movements of the early 20th century, Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, and Futurism. Later Art Deco of the mid to late 1930s is also sometimes called Streamline Moderne.

One idea behind art deco architecture was to apparently streamline buildings the same way you would streamline a car for aerodynamics. Around the word the style was much more common in commercial buildings than in houses; many banks, schools, and libraries were built in this style.

In India Mubai and Calcutta are great repositories of this style. In Calcutta the modern educated professionals moved South and added a quintessentially to neighbourhood. Geometric, with vernacular idioms, no two houses were the same.

Art Deco is resplendent in Metro, the film theatre on Chowringhee. It is everywhere however Hindustan Park is a quiet neighbourhood hood with many of these still existing.

Byloom and Sienna are artisanal boutiques with great food and bric a brac to buy