food on table

It is a known fact that Bengalis are people with a rich interest in culinary delights. Hence the city of Kolkata is a confluence of a variety of cuisines and a rich hub when it comes to street food; however, it would be a mistake to assume that Kolkata’s love affair for good food ends with the city’s impressive repertoire of street food. Fine dining is most definitely on the Bengalis mind and that is vindicated by the rich variety of quality restaurants scattered about the city.

If you are looking for fine dining in the city, the most obvious places to head to would be the large hotels. Whether it be the Sonar Kolkata or the Hyatt regency, The Oberoi Grand or the Taj Bengal, all of them have an impressive array of restaurants to their credit. These restaurants boast a lot of variety, from continental to Chinese and Thai to Indian cuisines. Since Bengali cuisine in itself carries a whole lot of variety and flavor, specialty Bengali food restaurants are also available in these places.

Once you leave the safe haven of a five star hotel, the best place to find a wide array of restaurants in Kolkata is the famous Park Street. This entire stretch is lined with famous restaurants serving several varieties of food. Restaurants like a Peter Cat are hubs that faithful diners swear by. In fact, in addition to the quality food, the rich past and ambience of park street restaurants attract a host of visitors. Breakfast at Flury’s or a sumptuous meal at Trincas or Moulin Rouge accompanied by live music can really do wonders to uplift a person. The atmosphere that these places offer harks back to an era when the pace of life was much more relaxed and it is this that attracts most of the visitors.

Outside of Park Street, you can opt to go northwards. Here, you will find restaurants that are close to a century old or more. Food here is definitely of the highest grade and each restaurant has a special item. What’s more, each item has folklore associated with it. If you wish to experience Vintage Kolkata in a special way, head north. Places like the Golbari at Shyambazar will serve you great food with a seasoning of heritage at prices you wouldn’t believe.

Such is the Bengali’s hunger for food that you’ll not only find restaurants in and around the city but also on the river! The Floatel is a floating restaurant on the river Hooghly that offers a rare dining experience to its patrons. If you wish to dine while enjoying the sights and sounds of the riverside, we definitely recommend that you head over there.

From Five star hotels to ramshackle roadside shops, quality food can be found everywhere in Kolkata. While it is your idea of fine dining that will decide whether you choose the former, latter or something in between, we can assure you that at the end of the day, you will have a satisfying gastronomic experience.

The rosogolla is perhaps the most famous among all Bengali sweets. Sandesh comes a close second. Made from chhana, fresh cottage cheese, rosogolla and sandesh are examples of the uniqueness of Bengali sweets. Did you know the person famed for preparing sandesh for the first time was Nakur Moyra? Or that the sweet ladikeni was named after Lady Canning, in whose honor it was first prepared?

The classic examples of sweets from Bengal include those prepared in the household kitchens. The women of the house were expert cooks and were known for different kinds of sweets like patishapta (a roll made from rice flour with a filling of khowa kheer), payesh (kheer with rice), chandra puli (half-moon shaped sweets made from coconut), narkel naru (ladoos made from coconut) and so on.

Mishti doi, or sweetened yogurt, is considered one of the essentials of the dessert sections on auspicious occasions. Special occasions in Bengali households also mean the preparation of an array of special sweets. The most common among them is the malpoa. Made from semolina and flour, malpoas are fried and then dipped in thickened sugar syrup for that particular taste.

And who can forget the taste of pithes prepared by our moms and grandmas on special occasions? The wrapped pithes were usually made from rice flour and the filling inside ranged from sweetened khowa to a thickened coconut filling flavored with jaggery. Pithes were often accompanied by sweetened kheer or light liquid jaggery. The variations also included shapes like stars, crescent, and so on.

Bengali cuisine is known for its wide variety. This same variety is evident in its dessert section as well. Bengali sweets are known for their variety and also for the ways, in which the diverse ingredients were used, be it chhana or coconut.