The Denmark Tavern, the riverside heritage property in Serampore that has recently been restored, is almost ready to receive overnight guests.

“We have six rooms — four on the first floor and two on the ground floor —- which have been furnished. It is expected that we would start letting them out in a month,” said manager Krishna Mallick.

A restaurant has been running at the two-storeyed building by the Hooghly, which was handed over to the state government post-restoration in February and is being managed by the Park Group, since August.

“This is the first time our company is running an eatery at a heritage structure. We serve Indian, Chinese, Bengali and tandoor dishes. There are some signature Danish dishes on our menu, too, like Danish-style chicken sausage, Danish roast chicken and Danish pastry with vanilla ice cream,” said Kaushik Saha, executive chef of The Park, who visits the property regularly for quality control in the kitchen.

The place has become popular among local people. “This is a respectable place to bring guests to. Despite being run by a star hotel the prices are reasonable. Serampore did not have an eatery like this,” said Jhumjhum Das, who had brought her sister-in-law for lunch.

Seated at an adjacent table with her mother, Jhumur Basu, a teacher at Muralidhar College, said: “We come here often for the ambience. Who knew that the dilapidated structure that was an eyesore for years would become such a lovely destination?”

The opening of the rooms in the tavern promises to be a bigger boon for tourism in the European colonial belt. A survey that was carried out among residents in January by a team from IIM Nagpur on facilities missing in neighbouring Chandernagore as part of Bonjour India, the festival of France in India, had thrown up lodging among the top four requirements. The scene is no different in the former Danish settlement. “All that we have here are lodge-type places,” said Basu, a Serampore resident.

“Residential facilities need to come up all along the riverside tourism belt. In Chandernagore, for example, to enjoy the festival and see the lights you need to be present at night but there are no places to stay. You are forced to go back,” French consul general Virginie Corteval told Metro.

She was visiting Chandernagore for Jagaddhatri Puja on Saturday and had lunch at The Denmark Tavern, where she also checked out the furnished rooms.