 |
| A glimpse of T2 Wok and Grill at Hindustan Park; (below) a Continental speciality from the restaurant kitchen. Pictures by Rashbehari Das |
 |
There has been a lot of interest in recent times in what people are calling “the revival of Park Street”. Some are saying “the rejuvenation of Park Street”. But if we are talking strictly about food and drink, this wonderful boulevard, quite easily the heart and soul of Calcutta’s cosmopolitan melting pot, never did, and still doesn’t, need revival or rejuvenation.
In other spheres — entertainment, architecture, beautification — such terms do apply, but not in the case of food and drink. All the old establishments have survived through difficult times; new places have sprung up and in at least three or four places, one still has to wait in a queue before indulging. The only exception is Sky Room, ironically probably the best of them, but its closure had nothing to do with the fortunes of Park Street in general.
Over the past 15 or 20 years, another major epicentre for wining and dining has evolved in the city, with good, stand-alone restaurants offering a variety of cuisines in pleasant surroundings at acceptable rates. This is around and about my most favourite south Calcutta boulevard — Rashbehari Avenue — which, in a completely different way from Park Street, of course, has a feel and a charm of its own which is full of character.
If you stand at Triangular Park and cast a net that covers a circle of radius one kilometre, you will catch virtually all these “new” restaurants, with their concentration being more intense as you approach the Gariahat Crossing and the by-lanes nearby, like Dover Lane and Hindustan Park. I started counting the ones I know about and lost count at around 20. From pure vegetarian eateries serving Indian food to multicuisine restaurants to those with Oriental and Continental fare, it’s all more or less available. Some Mughlai restaurants in the Park Circus area have opened branches in this “circle” and one of the latest entrants is also a “branch” of Tangerine, a successful, time-tested place two minutes’ walk from Park Street, on Outram Street.
Coincidentally, it’s called T2 Wok and Grill (for Tangerine # 2) and unlike the one on Outram Street, which also does north Indian food, T2 has mainly Oriental, plus a compact and neat section of Continental classics, mainly grills, and some baked items as well. The location is 4 Hindustan Park.
On my first visit, I concentrated on proteins. Grilled Prawns with Garlic Parsely Butter or Creole Butter, Lamb Chops, and Pork Chops with Prune and Wine Glaze. Just one of each, I promise, though more would have gone down equally well.
I particularly liked the pork chops, because of the sauce they serve with them. The chops are marinated in garlic paste, pineapple juice, red wine and crushed peppercorns and then grilled. The sauce is made by reducing a combination of red wine and pork stock, adding butter, julienned prunes (or plum sauce) and seasoning, with tarragon being the predominant flavour.
The grilled prawn, marinated with lemon juice, salt and pepper and white wine before grilling, was also served with a highly palatable sauce, made from a reduction of orange juice and seasoned with chilli flakes and finely-chopped coriander. These were the two items I specially liked and though the lamb chop was tender and tasty, it was not quite as unusual.
Prawn Cocktail, Chicken Tetrazzini and Fish Steak are age-old Calcutta favourites on the Continental menu and they have a pasta choice as well, including Spaghetti Carbonara, a personal favourite.
I have not been able to do justice to the Oriental menu of T2 Wok and Grill, a good deal larger than the “Grill” menu, but still compact enough. Mainly Chinese, but items from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Japan as well. Also, a nice wide selection of meat, poultry, fish, seafood (squid and crab) and vegetables. Park Street always beckons, but this is a good new value-for-money zone. |
