Growing up, Sunday was incomplete without kosha mangsho for lunch, the succulent pieces of masala-coated meat leaving a trail of oil on the plate. The Kosha Mangsho from Koshe Kosha comes closest to my long-lost Sunday treat. The dark brown colour, the delicate mix of spices and the aroma take me back to my childhood.
And since the restaurant chain specialises in Bengali food, you’ll get more than just Kosha Mangsho here. The delicacies of both epaar and opaar Bangla, for instance — Bekti Chingrir Melbondhon, Malai Chingrir Biryani, Roshun Bhapa Bekti, Gondhoraj Murgi... all are equally tempting at Koshe Kosha.
What started out 10 years ago as a stall at the Star theatre food court is now spread across Calcutta in nine locations, and one in Bangalore. “We began with only four or five items on our menu. After Star shut down, we moved to Hatibagan in 2010 and the expansion began slowly. The quality of food has definitely been the same throughout, if not better. We could achieve that because every single outlet has been doing well,” said Arunava Das Sharma and his nephew Chiraag Paul, the two managing directors of Proem Hospitality, the parent company of Koshe Kosha, as we sat down for a chat at their Ripon Street outlet.
The seven other branches are in Golpark, Salt Lake, Rajarhat, Garia, Jadavpur, Behala and Dalhousie. And each has a touch of Bengal in the decor, “from zamindar bari to gram Bangla”. “If you look at the timeline, we only started heavily expanding a couple of years ago, so not a lot of people know that we’ve been around for 10 years,” said Chiraag, who was a footballer before joining his father’s business.
So how did the journey begin? “My father, Pradeep Paul, was a huge fan of the kosha mangsho from Golbari. One of the biggest reasons for creating Koshe Kosha was because he was heartbroken when Golbari shut down. We wanted to recreate the same magic. Now, it’s a different story altogether but it was the seed for this brand. We’ve had to tweak the recipe that we initially started out with, over the years and even though Kosha Mangsho is still our forte, we’ve diversified,” said Chiraag.
“People from all over the world come to eat at the Ripon Street outlet and they can’t pronounce half the things on the menu. They just come and say they want the ‘black mutton’. Not a lot of Bengali restaurants have a USP, but we sure do,” smiled Arunava. “Can you tell us some spices that go into it?” we ask. “No!” pat came the reply.
What: 10th Anniversay Celebrations
Where: Koshe Kosha, all outlets in Calcutta
When: August 28 to 30
On the menu: All Bengali delicacies from the restaurant will be priced at Rs 99 and Rs 149 for three days. This offer is available for delivery and takeaway too.
Why: “Before Puja, we want to go back to the prices we started out with as part of our 10th anniversary celebrations. We just want people to come in and try the food. Since the Pujas are right around the corner, may be people want to save up, so the timing is also quite right for this,” said Chiraag Paul.
FACT BOX
• Set up by Pradeep Paul, Koshe Kosha began as a small kiosk in the food court of Star theatre in 2007 (which doesn’t exist any more). Now, there are 9 outlets in Calcutta and one in Bangalore.
• Shyam Sundar and Pradip Giri were brought in from New Punjabi Hotel, better known as Golbari, to create the Kosha Mangsho, the signature dish of the iconic food stop at Shyambazar five-point. They’re no longer associated with Koshe Kosha.
• Plans are on to take the outlet to Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Siliguri, Puri and Bhubaneswar. Outside the country, their first and obvious choice is Dhaka because “we get a lot of guests from Bangladesh in the Ripon Street outlet and they’ve been requesting us to take Koshe Kosha to Dhaka”.
• The parent company Proem Hospitality has two other restaurants — Gossip and More Gossip — in Ajoynagar. Two more brands are in the offing. Krakatoa, opening shortly in Behala, will serve Southeast Asian food; and Eat Water, opening on Lavelle Road in Bangalore before coming to Calcutta, will have East Indian food in the smart dining segment. Krakatoa will have a chain of outlets like Koshe Kosha.
RAPID FIRE
Oldest dishes on the menu: Kosha Mangsho and Baked Paratha.
Newer dishes: Bekti Chingrir Melbondhon and Malai Chingrir Biryani.
Most elaborate dish: Bina Katar Bhapa Ilish, needs to be ordered 24 hours in advance.
Most popular drinks: Gondhoraj Ghol and Aam Pora Sorbot.
Most popular starters: Bekti Chingrir Melbondhon and Mochar Chop.
Biggest outlet: Ripon Street, which is a 76-seater.
Smallest outlet: Hatibagan, which seats 18.
Busiest outlets: The Dalhousie and Ripon Street outlets do well on weekdays. Golpark and Rajarhat outlets do well on weekends. In Koramangla, Bangalore, there is a waiting time of an hour on weekends.
