The mother loves to cook. The son runs a cloud kitchen under four brand names in Baguiati.
In the Puja season, they joined hands to open an eatery in IA Block which they have named House of Royals.
“It’s a play on our surname, Roy. We had taken this plot keeping in mind its accessibility to people who might be coming from outside Salt Lake. So we thought of opening this sit-down place,” said Subhanjoy Brota Roy, a Baguiati resident who also runs a firm to convert waste to organic fertiliser in Pune. “My interest in food developed ever since I did a summer internship at Rebels Foods (online restaurant company which operates several cloud kitchen brands).”
While the cloud kitchen Roy runs offers Chinese, Tandoor, rolls and biryani, the House of Roys selection is exclusively North Indian and Mughlai. Other than the ground floor space which seats 38 over 1,400sq ft, the restaurant has an open space for gatherings and parties.
Decor is not the string point of the restaurant and the owner is unabashed about the no-frills look. “We want the focus to be on food,” he says.
The menu includes some items synonymous with the cabin culture of north Calcutta by adding a fried section. “Try our Fowl Cutlet and Golden Fried Prawn. We are also serving Prawn Cutlet with Fries and Dip. Another popular pick is Keema Devilled Egg, which has a coating of keema over the boiled egg,” he offers.
Purani Dilli Butter Chicken
Some influences of Old Delhi also linger in dishes like Purani Dilli Butter Chicken and Purani Dilli Fried Chicken. There is a Parsi pick too in Keema Pav. “It is a staple in Maharashtra and has become a runaway hit on our menu. During Puja, we ran out of pav on Ashtami and had to stop taking orders,” says Roy.
The eatery had opened a month back with a single-page menu of 15 items but has since expanded the selection.
For those wanting to start the meal with a soup, the restaurant offers an item that comes closest in North Indian cuisine — shorba. “Our options in shorba come in Tomato and Dhania, makai, murgh and mutton,” he says, pointing to the new menu.
The restaurant has strong foundations in kebabs, offering at least 16 varieties, including Chello Kebab, made famous by Park Street’s Peter Cat.
Another section has been added keeping popular demand in mind — mocktails. While Burhani is perhaps the only drink that goes with a Mughlai menu, being an appetiser typically taken with biryani, the choices are as wide as Gondhoraj Ale and Ginger Ale.
The restaurant is delivering in Salt Lake across a 3km radius. There are thalis for weekday lunch, keeping the office crowd in mind. “We believe in the purity of ingredients. We will not claim bekti and serve basa,” Roy said.