A good meal need not mean shelling out big bucks at high-flying restaurants, especially if it’s going to be a daily affair. Government employees in our township have founder a cheap and healthy alternative in the canteens set up in their buildings and many an office-goer from their neighbourhood joins them during lunch hour. 

The Telegraph Salt Lake goes canteen-hopping in the business districts to sniff out the best eating options where outsiders are welcome. 

Swasthya Bhavan

Location: Ground floor of Swasthya Bhavan. Tables and chairs are there for customers to sit and food is cooked in the kitchen.
Timings: 11.30 am to 5pm
Pop picks: The best seller is Fish thali comprising rice, dal, a vegetable, a piece of katla fish with gravy. It costs Rs 70. Ilish thali (Rs 90) does well too. Mutton is served with four pieces of mutton and potato. For dessert, there is lyangcha and rosogolla at Rs 10. Swasthya Bhavan’s Khirer Chomchom is famous too.
Ownerspeak: One of the first stalls here was set up by Sharmila Mahanto, nearly 20 years ago. “Back then, no one would come to Sector V but now it’s a business hub. Food is now available on the streets as well as in star hotels. People choose whatever suits their budget. I have a fixed number of customers who eat lunch and evening snacks here,” she said. 
Customerspeak: “My office has a canteen but it’s expensive. They serve burgers, pizzas and Chinese food but one can’t eat that daily,” said Rajiv Sinha, an IT sector employee. “My staple is rice, lentil and fish, that I have here. It fits my budget too, especially towards the end of the month.”

Poura Bhavan 

Location: Previously the canteen was in the garage space of the FD Block headquarters of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. Now it has been shifted to a separate enclosure on the ground floor with a proper seating arrangement and TV set.
Timings: 11.30 am-5pm
Pop picks: Apart from thalis, Chicken Chop (Rs 20), Dimer Chop (Rs 15), Paratha-Alur Dum (Rs 20) and Mango Doi (Rs 15) always fly off the shelves. “Every time I make Chicken Chop, even the ministers, who come over for meetings, order it with tea. I make extra in case anyone wants to take some home,” says Kartik Mondal, who has been running the canteen for almost three decades. “Some of our items are so famous that we take up a counter at Bidhannagar Mela to serve them.”
Ownerspeak: “Everyone in the building knows me by name,” smiles Mondal. “Not only do I run the canteen but I also serve ministers personally whenever they want tea and biscuits in their rooms. Even the mayor orders my tea when he comes to office,” he said.
Customerspeak: “Kartik’s food is something we cannot do without at our office,” says Swapan Moitro, an engineer at the corporation. “I love his chops, particularly fish chops, but he does not make them frequently. We also love his paratha-alur dom.”

Mayukh Bhawan

Location: Ground floor of the DF Block building, at the landing of the staircase. Plastic chairs and tables have been set out for customers to sit. 
Timings: 11.30am to 5pm (lunch). Kochuri-ghughni is served for Rs 20 a plate in the evenings sometimes if pre-ordered. 
Pop picks: Fish thali is the best-seller. Comprising rice, dal, vegetable and a piece of katla fish, it costs Rs 60. “This fish gravy is made of onion garlic paste and tastes more like Doi Machh,” says Jyotsna Banerjee, the proprietor. Ilish thali, where the fish is prepared with mustard paste, costs Rs 80. 
Mutton Curry is served with four pieces of mutton and potato and many opt for half plate mutton with two parathas (Rs 90). Rice is cooked steaming hot right before customers and roti is served straight off the brick oven. For dessert, there is lyangcha, rosogolla and diabetic sandesh for Rs 10 a piece.  
Ownerspeak: The canteen is run by Banerjee, a 50-year-old, who takes the Bongaon local to Ultadanga every morning. “I do the cooking from home and bring it. I sell about 150 plates a day. Most of them are my daily customers but no one eats on credit. I have a loyal customer base,” she says. 
Banerjee has been running the show since 1984. “I had lost my husband and needed to sustain my family. I sought help from CPM leader Kanti Ganguly, who helped me set up this canteen here.” 
Customerspeak: “Getting good food has become difficult after the hawker evictions earlier this year. Now most of my colleagues carry food from home but I prefer walking 10 minutes to come here to eat,” said Suparna Raha, of a nearby State Bank Of India branch. “I love mutton and roti here. It’s my staple. I also like roti-sabji with mishti. I’ve been coming here for five-six years now,” she said.

Purta Bhavan

Location: There are close to 20 food stalls in the basement of this of DF Block building. 
Timings: 11.30am to 5pm (lunch). Luchi-alur dum is sometimes served in the mornings and evenings. 
Pop picks: A Rs 70 combo meal of khichuri, alu bhaja, ilish machh bhaja fast flies off the counter. This khichuri is more of the dry bhuna variety. They also make chowmein and chilli chicken. The chowmein is served with gravy and three pieces of chicken and gravy. It costs Rs 60 a plate.
Ownerspeak: Biswajit Mishra, one of the stall owners, said his stall has been up since 1998. “My father used to sell tea and cigarettes on the verandah of the first floor. Later when the canteen came up he took permission to set up a stall. Now many others from our family have joined the business. We live in Bongaon and travel here everyday. The building has the infrastructure to cook so we cook here in the mornings,” he added.
Customerspeak: “This canteen is spacious and food is cheap as the owners don’t have to pay for electricity and other facilities,” said Asim Bhowmick, junior engineer, PWD, whose office is on the second floor of Purta Bhawan. “There are several stalls so we get variety. My personal favourite is chowmein-chilli chicken.”

Nagarayan 

Location: Ground floor of the DF Block building (urban development department). The canteen has a separate entrance and two zones — one for tea and coffee, the other for meals.
Timings: 11.30am to 5pm
Pop picks: Fried Rice with Alur Dum and chicken is the most sought. It costs Rs 70. Fish meal at Rs 40 and chicken meal at Rs 75 are also popular.  
Ownerspeak: Chiranjeet Sahu has been running this canteen since 2004. “My grandfather was a clerk at an office in his building and just before retirement, he sought permission from the authorities to set up a stall here. Now I run this stall with my uncles and cousins,” he said, adding that he sells 125 to 130 plates a day for lunch. 
Customerspeak: “I have been coming here for the last six-seven years, ever since I got a job in this neighbourhood. My office is close by but we don’t have a canteen. This place serves hot lunch and is priced reasonably. We order from here when we have office parties and they deliver the food,” says Bhaskar Chowdhury, an engineer. 

Bikash Bhavan snacks counter 

While Bikash Bhavan, in DF Block, doesn’t have a full-fledged canteen to serve meals, State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC), that has its office on the first floor, runs a snacks counter there. “There’s a steady stream of customers in the evenings for fish fries (Rs 75) and fish chops (Rs 20). We serve them hot with salad and sauce,” said an SFDC employee manning the counter. “We only sell tea, coffee and fish items, including burgers and kabirajis.” The counter runs from 11.30am to 5pm and is popular with those frequenting the building. “Even people who don’t have any work here come and queue up for food. Some of us pack food to take home on our way out,” said Tirtha Basu, who comes for IGNOU workshops to the building.