The corporate crowd made a beeline for biryani from noon to 6.30 in the evening for four days on the trot at Ecospace Business Park. And why not? Bahaar-e-Biryani, presented by Ecospace & t2, laid out a lavish fare by some of the city’s top Mughlai stops under one roof. With options like Aminia, Mezbaan, Naushijaan, Arsalan, India Restaurant (Kidderpore),Tamarind and Zam Zam, foodies were spoilt for choice. Nalin Chandra Das & Sons was present to end it on a sweet note. 

“My name rhymes with biryani,” laughed Divyani Chowdhury as she tried some from Naushijaan. “We have come all the way from Behala only for this festival. That must say something about our love for biryani!” said Soham Chandra (in red), an engineering student.   

Shrestha Sinha and Sourab Roy had come from Chetla to taste all that they could. “I love the biryani from India Restaurant, Zam Zam, Arsalan and Aminia. They each have their signature taste,” said Sourab, tucking into Malai Chicken and biryani from Zam Zam. 

For Shaonli Mitra (left) and Anushree Sengupta, it was about trying something different. “We are Arsalan fans but we had heard a lot about Zam Zam and India Restaurant, so we decided to give those a shot,” said Shaonli. 

“We have packed kebab and Mutton Biryani from Zam Zam for dinner as well,” laughed Annesha Chakraborty (left), a corporate employee, who along with colleagues Swapna Pyne (centre) and Mandrita Saha feasted on biryani and Malai Tikka from Mezbaan. 

“Calcutta biryani has its own taste. We have so many biryani outlets in the city and yet, all of them are much loved. We had done biryani festivals in the City Centre malls and we got a great response. So we thought of bringing it to Ecospace as well, since the employees working here hardly get time to drop into restaurants. It is mostly during lunch hours that we got the maximum footfall, and interestingly it was not just people who work here but also those live nearby who came over to have biryani,” said Ramesh Pandey, general manager, marketing and events, Ambuja Neotia Group. And such was the demand that the three-day festival was extended by another day!