Oh! Calcutta

Review

Oh! Wow! Oh! Calcutta. A revisit finds Tardeo and Andheri's large, wooden-floored, white-walled, Calcutta Club-like restaurants as superlative as ever. They are the products of love and passion of Calcutta buffs, Anjan and Suchhanda Chatterjee. Comfortable furniture, bookshelves, film memorabilia and a graffiti wall complete the ambience. They've recently discontinued Tangra Chinese and Continental fare, but very good Bengali fare continues to be served here. Hand-pounded masalas, river fish flown in from Kolkata and passionate Bengali chefs deliver a memorable experience from the unerringly cooked and lusciously creamy prawn-and-coconutty Malai Chingri, to the full-bodied spiced lamb or Kosha Mangsho, Smoked Hilsa, Chicken Murshidabad with aniseed, Mochar Chop and Murgh Palong Paturi. Order correctly and you've hit paradise. Veggies can happily settle for Cauliflower in Mustard and Mochar Ghonto (banana flower). However, some dishes can be slightly greasy and the Mishti Doi is rather disappointing. Bhapa Sandesh, Notun Gur Sandesh, and Payesh, straight from the owner's own shop, Sweet Bengal, make for a good ending to the meal. If you love Bengali food, you've got to visit these award-winning restaurants that zoom to the top... every year.