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| Lazeez at 83 Rajdanga Gold Park. Pictures: Sayantan Ghosh |
If you dig the biryani and kebabs at Shiraz, then Lazeez is right up your lane. It’s the same Shiraz food here, only in a cosier ambience.
Lazeez is the newly-launched QSR (quick service restaurant) chain from Shiraz. Calcutta has already got two — one in Chinar Park, Rajarhat, and the other in Rajdanga, Kasba. Lazeez has gone beyond Bengal too, with six outlets in Bangalore and one in Thane, Maharashtra.
“The QSR format is the order of the day and so we have launched the Lazeez chain and Lazeez Express outlets (takeaways). We plan to open at least 15 Express outlets in Calcutta and more in other cities, making Lazeez a pan-Indian brand of affordable authentic Awadhi food. We haven’t compromised on the quality of food. We have only brought in some variation in the service, portioning and presentation,” says Ishtiaque Ahmad, director of Shiraz Hotels.
Those who haven’t had the Shiraz experience in Calcutta yet, well, it’s a culinary story that began in 1941 with Shamsuddin — one of the descendants of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s khansamas — taking charge of the Shiraz kitchen and churning out Nawabi cuisine — rezala, ishtoo (stew), biryani, kebab, chanp and korma.
“We also specialise in Calcutta rolls. Our chicken and mutton rolls are hot favourites at the Xpress outlets,” says Ahmed.
Open from noon to 11pm daily, the recently launched 42-seater Lazeez at 83 Rajdanga Gold Park (Rashbehari connector) is done up in red and off-white tones, with huge collages adorning the walls. Signature Calcutta sights — sindoorkhela, the Dakshineswar temple, horse-drawn carriage in front of Victoria Memorial, hand-pulled rickshaw, double-decker bus, trams, Nandan, Prinsep Ghat and Howrah bridge — make you nostalgic.
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| Lazeez Special Chicken Cheese Kebab |
Stoking the nostalgia even more come plates of chicken and mutton biryani (Rs 130); the air is instantly filled with the aroma of itar. Mutton Chanp (Rs 120), Lazeez Special Chicken Cheese Kebab (Rs 210) and Mutton Burra Kebab (Rs 260) slowly line up on the side.
“Please don’t leave without having something sweet,” says Ahmed. And an earthen saucer of Zafrani Firni is wiped clean in a jiffy!
