The Sojourn
When: April 15 to 19,
12.30pm to 4.30pm
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,200
What: The lunch at the Broadway hotel starts with a choice between Aam Pora Sherbet and fruit punch, which works well in this heat. But be careful to have only enough to work up your appetite. All three starters are worth sampling — Egg Devil, Topse Fry and Mangsher Patishapta. Unlike the traditional dessert in coconut or kheer, this patishapta is a crispy, fried savoury stuffed with bhoona mutton keema.
Vegetarians have options in Chhana Motorshutir Chop, Narkel Posto Bora and Aam Mocha Cutlet. Among the salads, the gur chalta variety is a novel one, pairing the tanginess of chalta with the sweetness of sugarcane molasses. Several dishes follow recipes from across the border, like Lote Bharta and Chitolmachher Muithya. So is Muri Ghonto, which cooks a katla fish head with unpolished rice. While those with a sweet tooth will opt for the vegetarian Basanti Pulao, for others there is Murgh Pulao. Though the cooking method, as described by chef Shekhar Biswas, is similar to biryani, it is less spicy. The dish goes well with Nukti, another mutton dish from erstwhile east Bengal which is spicy enough (though not hot) to compensate for the mildness of the pulao. The vegetarian options include Chhana Kofta Curry and Sheem Bhorta.
Chef Biswas takes pride in informing that all the desserts — even Chhanapora, Kamalabhog and aam doi other than payesh — are made in-house. But what piques curiosity is Lurki, served next to Aamer chutney. It turns out to be mishti doi with orange juice and a tinge of black salt, that adds drama to the sweetness.
Organiserspeak: “Salt Lake now is overrun with cafes and every outlet is laying out a Poila Baisakh spread. But traditional restaurants like us, which have been around for years, offer quality ingredients and taste,” said Piku Bhattacharya, the hotel’s finance manager.
Pride Plaza
When: April 13 to 15,
12.30pm to 4pm and 7pm onwards
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,696
What: The cafe at the New Town hotel welcomes guests with Bel Tulsi Sherbet or Gondhoraj Ghol. The salad options include a fusion, Kasundi Avocado Salad, which features cubes of potato and pineapple, marinated with nuts. There are prawn and chicken options too in Gondhoraj Lemon and Grilled Prawn Salad and Mustard Chicken and Bell pepper Salad. In the bhorta section, there is a mashed boiled egg preparation as also a shrimp cocktail one, alongside vegetarian ones. A streetfood counter will serve a range of chaats. The appetisers include local favourites like Peyaj Posto Bora, Gondhoraj Fish Fry, Bhapa Murgir Paturi and Kucho Chingri Bora. Biryani stars in the main course for non-vegetarians while vegetarians will be offered Thakur Barir Pulao. Rosogolla is presented in a non-sweet avatar, with the cheese dumplings cooked in cashew gravy instead of being dipped in sugar syrup, said chef Gopi Debnath.
Crackpot Cafe and Bistro
Where: DD Block, New Town
When: April 11 to 17 from 12.30pm to 10.30pm
What: Opt for the thali, that comes with both steamed rice and Basanti Pulao, along with Sonamung Daal and fritters of the day. This could be Alu Bhaja, Begun Bhaja or Posto Bora. The vegetable of the day will keep changing too between Phulkopi Alu Roast, Bhindi Masala and Alu Potol.
Vegetarians will get two more dishes – either Dhokar Dalna or Phulkopir Tarkari and the other would be one among the tangy tomato-based Handi Paneer, the spicy Paneer Dopiyaza or the sweet cashew-based Shahi Paneer. “The dishes aren’t strictly Bengali. We are offering north Indian fare too,” says chef head and manager Saheb Halder.
Non-vegetarians can choose between various thalis of mutton, chicken, fish or prawn, where they would be served Mutton Dakbunglow, Chicken Gondhoraj, Chingri Malaicurry, Chitol Machher Muithya or Katla Kalia. Bekti Fry would be common for all.
“These dishes would also be available a la carte, if a customer wants an add on,” says Halder. “Everyone loves muithya, for instance, but it’s difficult to make at home. The chiltol, that is a particularly bony fish, must be deboned, mashed and rounded into balls. It is then steamed, and cooked in a gravy of tomato, ginger-garlic paste and onion puree.”
The Mutton Dakbunglow will be a spicy dish with potatoes and eggs, emitting the flavour of whole spices and Gondhoraj Chicken will have two leg pieces of chicken blanched with gondoraj leaves and lemon, steamed, and cooked with cashew, charmogoj, and onions.
Pocket pinch: Rs 299 for the non-vegetarian thali, Rs 599 for the mutton thali.
Ownerspeak: “Around Poila Baisakh residents always yearn for Bengali food, so despite being a cafe that specialises in continental and Chinese fare, we are offering Bengali meals,” says Atreyi Mukherjee, who runs the outlet. “Plus, there aren’t many Bengali food joints this side of the township.”
Five & Dime
Where: GP Block, Sector V
When: April 15, 12noon to 4pm
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,199
What: Take the elevator to the 15th floor of the gastropub to experience a view of the wetlands as you welcome the Bengali new year with their buffet spread. The 30-item spread starts with a choice of mocktail before sampling phuchka or palak pata chaat. Several fried items will be served hot at the table, like Fish Fry, Kumro Fuler Bora and Luchi, as they get soggy if left cooked. One can also dig into egg devil and fish cutlet.
The paturi has a surprise wrapped in banana leaves. There is no bekti marinated with mustard paste inside. Instead it is a rather mildly flavoured chicken, cooked with gondhoraj lebu, green chilli and dhone pata.
While one can go for steamed rice to taste accompaniments like monohara dal, lau ghonto, echorer dalna, alu bhaja and beguni. Otherwise there is basanti pulao and luchi to enjoy with Mutton Dakbungalow and Desi Murgir jhol. The eatery insists on pasting shrimps on a pestle so that the result is not as uniform as it would be if grinded in a mixer.
Ownerspeak: “Our USP is freshness as we are holding it just for half a day. There can therefore be no utilisation of leftovers,” said Apeksha Lahiri, the owner.
Ibis Kolkata Rajarhat
When: April 15, 11am to 3pm
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,415
What: The Action Area 1 hotel has a thali on offer for Nava Varsha lunch. To beat the heat, there will be a cooling welcome drink option of Aam Panna or Beler Sherbat. There will be a distinctive touch to even a piece of machh bhaja, assured executive chef Abhisek Chand. “Our Bhetki Fish Fry will be dipped not in besan but in a batter of cornflour and maida. This way, the flavour will be retained,” he said. The main course will be Bengali Fried Rice. “It is not stir fried like the Chinese Fried Rice but simply tossed in ghee and garam masala. It is also slightly sweet like Pulao but not slow-cooked in dam,” he said. Though the thali limits the main dishes to what is served at the table, there will be an extra serving of rice as also another two pieces of luchi over and above the two served. The side dishes include Kosha Mangsho, Chicken Lonka Bata and Prawn Malai Curry.
Organiserspeak: “We are offering lunch and not dinner because lunch is traditionally the massive meal of the day. For dinner, people take much less, which is healthy too,” said Amita Mishra, general manager.
