What: Sonar Tori

Where: Fourth floor, Block B, City Centre, Salt Lake

Timings: 12.30pm to 3.30pm, 7pm to 11pm

Pocket pinch: For a la carte, Rs 1,300-plus for two; Rs 550-plus for mini thalis (during lunch only); Rs 700-plus for veg thali and Rs 850-plus for non-veg thali

As you walk in through the large wooden doors of Sonar Tori, you get transported to an era of chandeliers, bell metal tableware and canopied ceiling. Olive green walls, rich textile upholstery and furniture sourced from all over the country by artist Narayan Sinha greet you, along with the scent of mogra that is omnipresent — for a while you forget that you’re on the fourth floor of a bustling mall.

“It took me nine months and products from all over the country to create the second outlet of Sonar Tori. Of course this had to be different from the outlet at Raichak as that had the riverbank right next to it and nature played an important part in the decor,” said Narayan, as he showed t2 around the 90-seater restaurant.

Narayan makes up for the lack of natural surroundings by incorporating a lot of Bengal’s flora as elements of decor in the 3,000sq ft restaurant, slated to open doors to diners on May 7. 

“Reminiscent of British era Bengal, Sonar Tori is ready to transport you to an era of love, happiness and culinary pleasures of the bygone times!” said Nitin Kohli, director, Ambuja Neotia Hospitality. 

ON THE MENU

The menu here, according to Sumanta Chakrabarti, corporate chef, Ambuja Neotia Hospitality, is a more compact version of the spread at the Raichak outlet. “We have picked favourites from that menu in Raichak and made the thalis more compact here. The items show the various influences there are on Bengali food, starting from the zamindars to the krishis,” said chef Sumanta.

In fact, the amalgamation of all these influences is a recurrent theme in both the menu and the decor — from the chequered floors in the verandah seating area to the bar area with a colonial-style shamiana covering it.

Text: Anannya Sarkar
Pictures: Arnab Mondal