Pice Hotels at Kolkata has always been an integral part of the food culture of the city. There are quite a few like Swadhin Bharat Hindu Hotel, Siddeshwari Ashram, etc but in South Kolkata, there are only few options. Tarun Nikatan at Rashbehari Avenue (just few minutes of walk from Melody) is one of the bests when it comes to pice hotels in South Kolkata.
One fine Saturday afternoon, a friend accompanied me to Tarun Niketan Hindu Hotel to get a taste of authentic Bengali cuisine. It was almost 1.30 PM but we got a table almost without any wait. Here, the waiters are always on their toes, well-versed with the menu and the items available. You will be served on banana leafs and immediately after you take your seat, you will find a lemon, a chilli and some salt placed on the banana leaf infront of you.
In case of a pice hotel, the menu and the prices keep on changing on a daily basis, mainly because of the availability from the market. They gather their vegetables and fishes from the market on a daily basis. However, the changes vary between 5 to 10 INR mostly.
Let’s dig into the history of this pice hotel.
Well, this place has been operational since 1915, which is almost 107 years. Almost everything from the menu to the interiors remained unchanged till date. These are quite evident from the old-fashioned menu board, menu written with white chalks everyday, old fans, wooden chairs and tables with marble tops, with numbers written beside them for identification.
We ordered Rice (here, the first two servings are for free!), Daal, Macher Dim’er Bora(fritters made of fish egg), Narkel diye Mocha (a veg dish of spadex and coconut), Aloo Bhaja (fried potatoes), Chitol Maach (a delicacy of Clown Knifefish), Dim’er Jhhol (Egg Curry : 2 huge eggs with double yolk) and Aam’er Chutney (Mango Chutney).
Each and every item listed above is brilliant in taste, the flavors being brilliantly balanced. Me and my friend were discussing about the fact that all of these items(except Egg Curry, Fish Kalia and Mutton/Chicken Curry) are prepared without any onion and garlic, yet the taste is the signature. If you want an authentic Bengali lunch/dinner with a satisfied mind, soul and tummy, this is the place.
Few items that are a must-try at this place :
1.Macher Kantar Chochhori
2.Rui Machher Sada Jhhol — a dish which is prepared using Radhuni, common in Shukto.
3.Ilish Macher Matha diye Kochu Shaak
4. Chicken Curry
5. Chingri Malaikari
6. Beuli’r Daal with Aloo Posto
Pocket Pinch: 1000 -1200 INR for 2 including non-veg items. If you have only veg items, the price will be lesser.
Google Location : https://goo.gl/maps/xWndz6LYtSLnm6Bv5
If you are a fish-lover, this is the place for you. It will be hard choice to decide on the fish items since they prepare a lot of kinds. Any fish-lover would end up having 3 to 4 kinds of fish from here.
- Nearest Metro Station : Kalighat
- They do accept UPI along with cash. No cards here.
- Time : Everyday from 12 PM to 10.30 PM
PS : I was willing to try their Chingri Malaikari and Bhetki Paturi, but couldn’t. There is always a next time.
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