Rahul Gandhi steps out of Peter Cat at 10.48 on Wednesday night. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

Bhetki Paturi, Ilish Borishali, Chingri Malai Curry... on Tuesday night.

Chelo Kebab, Grilled Fish Sizzler... on Wednesday night.

Rahul Gandhi stepped out of Raj Bhavan for a taste of Calcutta on two successive nights. First, a true-blue Bengali spread and then the other Calcutta favourite, a continental meal on Park Street.

At 9.40pm on Wednesday, the Gandhi who turned 40 this summer sat easy at a table on the first floor of Peter Cat, in white kurta pyjama, legs stretched out under the table and sipping on fresh lime water.

SPG men seated at various tables kept a hawkeye, allowing only a nine-year-old boy to reach him for an autograph during the meal.

Rahul’s table No. 21 soon started filling up with a mixed menu. First, he picked on some Chelo Kebab — a Peter Cat hallmark. Then, he tucked into a Grilled Fish Sizzler before finishing on a sweet note with a bowl of chocolate souffle.

“I had a Bengali meal yesterday. I enjoyed the fish but (pointing at a friend at the table) he couldn’t enjoy it because he’s vegetarian,” he told Metro. “I like having mishti doi and sandesh whenever I’m here,” he added with a smile.

Shihab Rezaul Mondal, of course, could not stop smiling. “I have seen him on television.... I walked up to him and said ‘hi’. He looked at me and said ‘hi’.... I went up for his autograph while he was eating but he signed it at once. He wrote ‘All the best Shihab. Study hard and play harder’. I really like him,” said the student of St Thomas Church School, Howrah.

Shihab’s mother was even more excited about her encounter with Rahul Gandhi. “I can’t eat, I’ve lost my appetite after meeting him! I can’t explain how much I like and respect him,” blushed Jolly Mondal, 32. “When I told him that my father-in-law used to be a Congress MP, he immediately folded his hands in a namaste. It feels so good that I actually met Rajiv Gandhi’s son.”

Those who could not muster up the courage the mother-son duo did, sat and stared from their tables. Some were heard making hushed calls to friends and family: “Arrey amader next PM-er shathey dinner korchhi (We are at dinner with our next Prime Minister)!”

At 9.25pm on Tuesday he had much the same effect when he breezed into the Bhojohori Manna restaurant at Hazra for a “full-fledged Bengali dinner”.

The 25-seater restaurant went into a tizzy when the man who could one day become PM turned up unannounced with three of his friends and some SPG guards.

“There were other guests when he arrived and his guards suggested that we empty the restaurant, but he objected,” said Siddharth Bose of Bhojohori Manna. “He parked himself at the first empty table he found. He met every diner who came up to greet him and even signed autographs with a smile.”

What prompted Rahul to pick this foodspot? “We were later told he wanted to go to a place where the common man could walk in for a good Bengali meal,” said Bose.

The order was left to the restaurant attendants. “Rahul Gandhi told us he wasn’t very conversant with Bengali food but he was keen to try the fish. He wanted us to serve the popular items,” explained Bose.

So, the menu comprised bhaat, shukto, moong dal, alubhaja, bhetki paturi, ilish borishali and chingri malai curry, rounded off with notun gurer ice-cream, roshomalai and mishti paan.

To do it the Bengali way, Rahul even set aside his spoon and fork, dug in with his fingers and even managed the ilish quite well.

“He didn’t seem like a big eater but finished everything he took on his plate to sample. Mid-meal, he was curious to know if the bhetki paturi was steamed or fried and so we got one of our front-office attendants to explain the process to him,” said Bose.

At the end of the hour-long meal, he scribbled, “Thank you for a very nice dinner” in the visitors’ book.

“We didn’t want to raise a bill but he explained that all MPs are entitled to food allowances and so he would not like to take advantage of such a situation,” said Bose.