City of joyful eating
Brunch|August 27, 2022
Who would have thought that Kolkata would turn into one of India's great restaurant cities?
VIR SANGHVI
City of joyful eating

One of the many things that the good citizens of Calcutta disagree with the rest of us about is the quality of the restaurant food in their city. They think it is fabulous. We think it is mediocre.

I have to confess that till I went eating in Cal a couple of weeks ago, I was in the latter camp.

My views on the food in Cal were shaped by my experiences when I lived there. The Bengali food at restaurants was mediocre: to eat well you had to go to private houses. (It helped that my then boss Aveek Sarkar's wife, the art curator Rakhi Sarkar, made the best food in town so, it was easier to cadge invitations from them than go to Bengali restaurants.) There was vaguely authentic Chinese food in Chinatown but the Cal Chinese were, after so many generations, more Bengali than Chinese. The food in Tangra was usually completely inauthentic, and later, influenced by Punjabi Chinese.

So, I followed a simple policy. I ate in the streets where the food was always good and stuck to a few downmarket places, including Nizam's and the other roll makers. (The roll is Calcutta's greatest and most unrecognised contribution to our cuisine.) Cal biryani was not the craze it has now become but there were some good places.

Then, a funny thing happened. I moved to Delhi and suddenly, the Cal food scene exploded. It was almost as if they were waiting for me to leave before they started making the good stuff.

As you may have guessed from my recent columns, I am on a quest to find the best restaurants in the country. So far, I have done Gurgaon (the less said about that the better) and Bangalore (not bad at all) and I am going to Goa next. But of all the cities I have tried, there is no doubt that Calcutta beats the hell out of the rest.

EARLIER, THE BENGALI FOOD IN RESTAURANTS WAS MEDIOCRE. THERE WAS VAGUELY AUTHENTIC CHINESE FOOD IN CHINATOWN BUT IT WAS MORE BENGALI THAN CHINESE

This story is from the August 27, 2022 edition of Brunch.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the August 27, 2022 edition of Brunch.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM BRUNCHView All
Let's tri all the angles
Brunch

Let's tri all the angles

BFFs falling for the same girl, kidnap twists, murders, bromances. These 10 three-way love stories play with geometry and our feelings

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Should you Q up for this?
Brunch

Should you Q up for this?

Audi's luxury SUV, the Q8, has had a refresh. But a sleeker grille and headlight tech don't make up for what's still missing

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
How to plan a great escape
Brunch

How to plan a great escape

It's getting colder. It's already hard to breathe. Why not plan a winter vacation that's a world away but not too far away?

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Kababs, yes, but khandvi too
Brunch

Kababs, yes, but khandvi too

Mughlai cuisine has as many vegetarian dishes as meaty ones. A new translation of a 16th century manuscript shows how we ate, and why modern labels are pointless

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
I can be your hero
Brunch

I can be your hero

Gurfateh Pirzada, only afewroles old, is the green flag we didn't know we needed. He's learning from women. He wants to be more thana lover and a fighter. He's hoping we all do better. No wonder everyone's crushing on him

time-read
4 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Meet the export experts
Brunch

Meet the export experts

Khadi crop-tops in Spain, faux-leather hoodies in London, fairytale wedding gowns in the UAE. See how some desi labels are killing it on foreign shores

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Why we're all feeling Blue
Brunch

Why we're all feeling Blue

Coco Mellors's new novel is about grief, sisterhood, and of course, addiction and unlikeable women. How does she make it work?

time-read
4 mins  |
November 09, 2024
This week, we're...
Brunch

This week, we're...

Changing the momo game, listening to kids, starting a new business, and supporting pro waxxers

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Rohit Chawla
Brunch

Rohit Chawla

Photographer, artist, @RohitChawlaPhotography_

time-read
1 min  |
November 02, 2024
Congratulations, it's a goal
Brunch

Congratulations, it's a goal

Lakeside vows, pastel palettes, bayous, backyards and boats. These celeb weddings are what modern fairytales are made of

time-read
2 mins  |
November 02, 2024