Saraswati Pujo.
Nobobarsho.
Durga Pujo.
Are a few occassions when most urban Bengalis, no matter which city he lives, will head off to the nearest Bengali kitchen. And it includes folks living in Calcutta too.
Following is a conversation which happened between 2 friends of mine the day preceding this year's Nobobarsho, as to what are the plans for the next day.May be what is written below sounds a bit dramatic, but the conversation was almost on the following lines.
"Ki plan kalker?" (What's your plan for tomorrow?)
"Oh!Calcutta te." (to Oh!Calcutta. A plush restaurant known for serving authentic Bengali stuff)
"Amra to Bhojohari Manna te jacchi..Pabda Shorshe ta khub bhalo banae."(We are going to Bhojohari Manna,they prepare awesome Pabdar jhol)
"Accha accha.Amar ek colleague bollo Oh!Calcutta excellent Chingri Malakari banae!"(I heard from a colleague of mine Oh!Calcutta prepares delicious Chingri r malaikari).
The next day, neither of them went to the restaurants, I instead invited them to our place, where a plain Bengali lunch of Steamed Rice,Moong Dal,Alu Bhaja,Ilish Paturi and Kosha Mangsho followed.Period.
The sad truth is that the real essence of the rich Bengali cuisine are fast disappearing from most homes and people are taking refuge in restaurants.Whereas this is understandable in a place outside Bengal, but it becomes hard to believe the same back home.
Visiting 6BP was not my idea, but the wife's.We visited on a Saturday afternoon around 1.30 PM.The crowd was a mix of Bengali senior citizens,a South Indian couple,some firang chap who was busy capturing the "Doi er Ghol" in his SLR.But most of the guests were Bengalis in their 30s.The menu - again
not elaborate - included Doi er Ghol,Begun Bhaja,Chingri r Cutlet, Moong Dal,Luchi,Fulkopir Dalna, Rice,Bhetkir Paturi,Bhuna Chicken,Mutton Curry and Misti Doi and Sweets. I may have missed out on a few dishes though.
Things like the Luchi,Chingrir Cutlet were served on the table and the rest lay on the buffet table. Service has a huge scope of improvement.When we visited, the Chingrir Cutlet,Luchi and Begun bhaja were not available.They were presented to us a good 20 mins of taking the seat.
Now coming to the food - the food was decent and I will stop at that. The spices of fulkopir dalna were not blended homogenously,the Bhuna Chicken curry was nothing more than a Chicken er jhol.The rest of the items were more of less of the same standard.
The buffet was pretty economical.At 425 bucks, the list of menus were impressive, but the quality of the food is found wanting.
For someone who has traditional Bengali food at home, I would suggest to skip 6BP altogether.
Nobobarsho.
Durga Pujo.
Are a few occassions when most urban Bengalis, no matter which city he lives, will head off to the nearest Bengali kitchen. And it includes folks living in Calcutta too.
Following is a conversation which happened between 2 friends of mine the day preceding this year's Nobobarsho, as to what are the plans for the next day.May be what is written below sounds a bit dramatic, but the conversation was almost on the following lines.
"Ki plan kalker?" (What's your plan for tomorrow?)
"Oh!Calcutta te." (to Oh!Calcutta. A plush restaurant known for serving authentic Bengali stuff)
"Amra to Bhojohari Manna te jacchi..Pabda Shorshe ta khub bhalo banae."(We are going to Bhojohari Manna,they prepare awesome Pabdar jhol)
"Accha accha.Amar ek colleague bollo Oh!Calcutta excellent Chingri Malakari banae!"(I heard from a colleague of mine Oh!Calcutta prepares delicious Chingri r malaikari).
The next day, neither of them went to the restaurants, I instead invited them to our place, where a plain Bengali lunch of Steamed Rice,Moong Dal,Alu Bhaja,Ilish Paturi and Kosha Mangsho followed.Period.
The sad truth is that the real essence of the rich Bengali cuisine are fast disappearing from most homes and people are taking refuge in restaurants.Whereas this is understandable in a place outside Bengal, but it becomes hard to believe the same back home.
Visiting 6BP was not my idea, but the wife's.We visited on a Saturday afternoon around 1.30 PM.The crowd was a mix of Bengali senior citizens,a South Indian couple,some firang chap who was busy capturing the "Doi er Ghol" in his SLR.But most of the guests were Bengalis in their 30s.The menu - again
not elaborate - included Doi er Ghol,Begun Bhaja,Chingri r Cutlet, Moong Dal,Luchi,Fulkopir Dalna, Rice,Bhetkir Paturi,Bhuna Chicken,Mutton Curry and Misti Doi and Sweets. I may have missed out on a few dishes though.
Things like the Luchi,Chingrir Cutlet were served on the table and the rest lay on the buffet table. Service has a huge scope of improvement.When we visited, the Chingrir Cutlet,Luchi and Begun bhaja were not available.They were presented to us a good 20 mins of taking the seat.
Now coming to the food - the food was decent and I will stop at that. The spices of fulkopir dalna were not blended homogenously,the Bhuna Chicken curry was nothing more than a Chicken er jhol.The rest of the items were more of less of the same standard.
The buffet was pretty economical.At 425 bucks, the list of menus were impressive, but the quality of the food is found wanting.
For someone who has traditional Bengali food at home, I would suggest to skip 6BP altogether.
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