Oh Calcutta!, Khar

I was heartbroken when Mah Jong downed its shutters. Their crispy chicken was my favorite. :-(

I was keen on visiting the restaurant that has opened in the same place - Oh Calcutta! My previous trysts with the cuisine haven't been that successful. When I was in the Business school, the catering service had prepared Bengali food one night. My Bengali quadmate had sampled the fare and advised me not to go for it. 'There is nothing Bengali about this' she had declared emphatically. Then I had landed at her parents' place in Kolkata for the Durgapuja celebrations one year. But I was told that the Bengali households rarely cook during that time, busy as they are visiting various pandals. So I didn't get a chance to sample home-cooked Bengali food. Though I must confess that I was a fan of one the carrot vegetable prepared by mom of one of my ex-colleagues.

But as the saying goes my plans of dining at the restaurant kept getting disposed of by God. Finally, I managed to do so this weekend.

The seating, of course, has been changed. Gone are the high-walled cubicles and their place has been taken by chairs and tables without any separating panels, thus creating lots of open space. The downside is that at times the restaurant can get pretty noisy.

I was expecting some kind of Navaratri special menu given that this is an important festival for the Bengali community. But I was in for a disappointment. What was handed to me was their routine menu. What is worse is that all the dishes had Bengali names (Kakra Chingri Bhapa, Ada Lebu Bhapa Maach, Koraishutir Dhokar Dalna etc) and there was no description provided along with each dish to give one an idea of the ingredients and the method of preparation. As a result, we could see patrons getting into long-winded discussions with the servers at each table. Oh and BTW, I am yet to figure out what a dish like 'Paneer butter masala' was doing in a menu at a restaurant known for its Bengali food. It looked as if it was tacked on at the end like an afterthought.

I was clear about one thing - I was there to eat Bengali food. And the hallmark of it is seafood. So I was going to skip any chicken and Mutton (except for maybe Railway Mutton Curry) preparation. Similarly, I wasn't interested in going for any vegetable dishes before I had a chance to taste their non-veg offerings. So after much deliberations, we chose Fish Fry, Chingri Malai Curry and Luchi.

Fish Fry

When the server served Fish Fry, I liked the look of the dish. Two chunky Betki fish pieces fried to a crisp nestled in the plate with a serving of mustard paste and lemon wedges on the side. The chef had managed the tough task of keeping the outer coating crisp and the fish meat soft with perfection. It is equally enjoyable without the addition of the mustard paste. But I added it anyways in keeping with the true Bengali spirit.

The Chingri (prawn) Malai Curry had a gravy with perfect consistency - neither too thick nor too thin - given the fact that it had coconut milk as one of the principle ingredients and perfect taste. The only sore point was that, in my humble opinion, the prawns were a bit under-cooked. It went well with the 6 bhatura-sized Luchis (puris).

Chingri Malai Curry - or what is left of it :-)

 In one of the reviews on either Zomato or Burrp, I had read about Nolen Gurer (date palm jaggery) ice-cream. So we ordered it for dessert. If I hadn't been to Kolkata before I would have also ordered Mishti Dohi as well. But after eating Mishti Dohi in Kolkata, I know that the one made in Mumbai is simply no match. The ice-cream was good but frankly nothing to write home about. I enjoyed it as part and parcel of the Bengali food experience. That said, I do have the mind to try the recipe if I can get my hands on date palm jaggery anywhere.

Nolen Gurer Ice-cream

 The staff is courteous and the service prompt. But the sum total of Service Charges (10%), VAT on beverages (12.5%), VAT on food (12.5%) and Service tax (4.944%) is a bit too much, I say Oh Calcutta :-)