Allen Kitchen – A Tale

 Allen Kitchen at Sobha Bazaar, Kolkata 

Allen Kitchen is one of those iconic eateries which is famous for their Prawn Cutlet. This place started off with 5 branches, however it has been reduced to only 1 at this point of time and they have no connection with Allen Kitchen — Saveurs De Calcutta which is located at Hazra junction. The name came from their head cook & also because of the fact that their first branch started off from Allen Market at Chitpur. The shop is run by Saha family since beginning. Allen Kitchen is standing tall since last 130 years serving chops, cutlets and Kobirajis.

How to reach?

The easiest mode of transportation will be Metro Rail. Get down at Sobha Bazaar, use gate number 1 for exit and walk towards Girish Park. Leave 3 lanes on the left side and you will see Allen Kitchen with a very bright signboard.

They are open on all days from 5 PM to 9.30 PM however you might need to wait a bit on Saturdays and Sundays due to more footfall.

Coming to the food, they serve Chicken/Fish/Mutton Kobiraji and the Prawn Cutlet/Kobiraji which are fried using desi ghee and they use refine oil to fry the other items like Fish/Chicken fries and Chops. It is not humanly possible to try all the items of the menu card at one go and I kept few for the next visit.

What I ordered?

I was accompanied by a fried and we decided to start off with the famous Prawn Cutlet. Fried using desi ghee, the coating was crunchy and the filling of prawns would just melt in the mouth. 8/10 for this though the size of the prawn inside the cutlet is becoming smaller day by day and the coating is becoming larger.  Next came, a Chicken Batter Fry which is again fried using desi ghee and the coating was similar to the Prawn Cutlet, with a soft, perfectly-balanced taste of the chicken fillet. Check the snaps below :

During my last visit, I tried their Chicken Steak and I wanted my friend to try this dish. The steak is not the usual steak which we get at Mocambo or other places, however their steak is also a great dish to taste. Minced chicken/mutton is mixed with spices and seasoning before being fried lightly and served with a brownish, runny gravy which is a bit tangy in taste along with a perfect balance of a pepper sauce, served with caramelized onions on top which gives a sweet taste too.

Hold on, we are still not done!

Any visit to these old-school legendary snacks bar is incomplete without Egg Devils and Fries. At Allen Kitchen, you will find two types of Devils being served. One is prepared with fish and the other one, with minced mutton which can be regarded as the most common one. We ordered the second version. Here, devils are prepared using a whole egg and not a half one.

The filling was good, the coating was absolutely thin. I liked it.

We ended the the food journey for the evening with a Chicken Cutlet.

Needless to say, this also did not disappoint us in terms of taste however, I felt that the proportion of onions in the coating was on the higher side. It might not be an issue to many.

Since Allen Kitchen is known to be constant with their taste and quality, the price of the items is a bit on the higher side. Definitely, worth every penny that you spend. The updated menu card and price is given below. During my next visit, I am planning to gorge on some fish items along with the Prawn Cutlet.

The place is now renovated and do expect a clean seating arrangement, though not big. The staffs are all very polite and food is served here in no time. I was busy eating and forgot to capture snaps of the interior.

Coming back real soon with a new blog!

In the interim, you might be interested to follow my Instagram handle or my Facebook Profile. Feel free to leave a honest feedback too, it will take less than a minute!

Note : 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘/𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕.

Email - foodiedibyajit@gmail.com

Blog and Image Courtesy : Foodie Dibyajit