Sucking the marrow out of the nali haar at this Chitpur restaurant in Napoleoner Chithi, Feluda discovered that the biryani at Royal Indian Hotel acts like a “brain tonic”.
Not just Satyajit Ray’s sleuth, Royal has been a favourite haunt for the likes of Uttam Kumar and Raj Kapoor, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Khushwant Singh too, say the owners.
After operating out of 147 Rabindra Sarani for 110 years with a loyal clientele for its biryani and chaap, Royal Indian Hotel has got itself a swanky new second address at 24A Syed Amir Ali Avenue, diagonally opposite Quest mall.
If the idea has worked for more than a century — you either came over to Chitpur for the Royal food, or got someone to pack it for you — why open a second outlet with 160 covers across two floors, plus another floor “coming soon”?
“We have been planning a second restaurant for quite a few years. We have many loyalists who stay in south Calcutta who keep asking us about our expansion plans. So we decided to open three branches, beginning with south Calcutta,” said Md. Irfan, one of the directors of Royal Indian Hotel.
t2 brings you the flavours — old and new — from the Royal Indian Hotel kitchen.
The backstory
1905: Lord Curzon divides Bengal; Royal Indian Hotel is born. Ahmed Hussain, a migrant from Lucknow with cooking experience in the royal kitchens of Awadh, comes to Calcutta and opens a small restaurant on the ground floor of a hotel in Chitpur. His menu? Three dishes — Mutton Chaap, Mutton Qalia and Khushka, a spiced up variation of yellow pulao.
1940s: India gets Independence; Royal gets its biryani. Without aloo. Why? Because the biryani in Lucknow, where Hussain hails from, doesn’t have aloo. Mehboob Ali, Hussain’s son who’s in charge of the Royal kitchen, introduces the biryani. Also, by now the Mutton Chaap has garnered a strong fan following. Aloo Gosht (a mutton stew cooked with potato) and Khushka are the other pop picks.
1960s: Green Revolution sweeps through India; chicken enters the Royal menu. And Calcutta gets a chicken version of everything ‘Royal’ — from chaap and rezala to kebabs and biryani.
1971: There’s a spike in world population (increases by 2.1 per cent, one of the highest in history); Royal expands (okay, kidding!). Growing popularity and queues outside force the owners to create a separate seating area on the first floor of the building, which used to be a hotel.
1997: We swooned over Jack-Rose’s Titanic; Royal opens an air-conditioned dining area.
2016: Mamata Banerjee returns with a record majority; Royal opens a second outlet, after 110 years.
