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Like every Sunday, we're headed out for our weekly gastronomicouting. We’re wondering what could bethe best option for a sumptuous, yet homely meal in the Mumbai suburbs? Wellalmost instantly we thought of our favourite Bengali food place, the CalcuttaClub (Yes, still written as ‘Calcutta’and not ‘Kolkatta’) in Oshiwara.
While the Calcutta Club is not as fancy schmanzy as some of theother Bengali restaurants in its vicinity, it remains a very reliable foodexperience even today, many years after we 1st visited it. The location isideal; because it is in the heart of the Bengali talent pool of Bollywood.You'll find Calcutta Club seating artists of all categories throughout theyear. All of them enjoying their meal, without pretensions in this quaintlittle place.
As you enter the place through its big glass door, you can notice abig stone dragon sleepily greeting you at the entrance, and you can alreadyfeel the relaxing ambience dawning on you. I hope we get a table. But, we’venever really had to wait more than 5 minutes to be seated here (I don't knowhow they manage it). The place can seat between 30 to 35 people at a time, andit seems like everyone is eating here at a pre-programmed pace, with the ghazalmusic playing in the background and the serving staff moving in synchrony. Imust warn my friends, my brother is already tempted to sing along, unfazed byany glaring co-customers around us!
The beautifulblack, grey and white pictures on the wall add to the homely feeling of theplace. Of course, that is, if your home hosted film, music, art and otherBengali legends like Guru Dutt, Amartya Sen or Aparna Sen. My favouritepictures, however are of the cobbled streets and trams of Calcutta. Theycapture the essence and life of the city so beautifully. I’m already immersedin the delicious aromas of fish and meats. My mind is conjuring up images of mymeal. To my luck on days like this, all I have to say is ‘the regular’. The staff is really efficient. Don’t befooled by their relaxed body language or their strongly (Bengali) accentedHindi. They remember customers and their orders well. Come to think of it,there must be so much going on in a place like this. Starting withaccommodating as many tables as it does, with enough room for movement and forcustomers to eat at ease (with many of us preferring to eat like we do in ourIndian homes, that is, with our hands). But the calmness of the place doesn’tlet any of the layers of restaurant management or its slip ups (if any) show oraffect its customers.
I like to start with their aam pora sharbat (what we Punjabis call‘aam panna’), which has such an authentic (not the synthetic bottled taste) andfish cutlet, which is covered in bread crumb batter and served with anamazingly strong mustard sauce and some fresh cut onion rings and lime (noteyou should try their specialty lime called the ‘gondhoraj limbu’ (Kaafir Lime)in place of the regular lime halves. While their non-vegetarian food is reallyan amazing experience, their vegetarian offerings are also worth a mention. Iespecially love their begun bhaaja (fried seasoned Baingan/ brinjal rings) -the perfection of the masala and frying of the baingan just takes me back to mygranny’s table in my childhood! My entire family, especially those visiting usfrom other parts of India and overseas, just jump with excitement when they seeunique dishes like the banana flower vegetable (Moachhaar Ghonto, cooked withpotato and chana) that we had only found at our granny’s place, but isavailable here and I might add, cooked to perfection. Coming to meat, ourregular includes - mutton kasha (pronounced ‘Ko shaa’, a thick mutton gravy),loochis (their rice flour puris), sharshe narkol chingri (medium sized prawnsin a coconut gravy), ruil sharshe (strongly flavoured mustard based fishcurry), steam rice, and mutton biryani (their lightly flavoured, with no onionor tomato mix, aromatic Bengali style biryani, which comes with big pieces ofpotatoes and a boiled egg all embroiled in its aromas).
After our elaborate meal, I indulge in a dessert. After all,Bengalis ARE the Maharajas of traditional Indian sweets. So, a visit toCalcutta Club would remain incomplete without trying their dessert. For the 1sttimers I'd recommend the Misthi doi (sweet flavoured yogurt served in a matkacup which itself adds to the earthly flavours), but for the more brave hearted,the heavenly Rosogollar Payesh (rasgulla soaked in flavoured rabri like milk,sweetened and flavoured to perfection) will be the one that says it all.
Calcutta Club truly feels like a visit to a traditional Calcuttahome, offering unique Bengali flavours, along with the city’s culture and artsin a small, but beautifully warm place. It's so easy to become a regular in itsair (read aromas) of familiarity! So don't wait for Dussehra to visit, althoughthe spread is even more tempting then! |