When we talk about Park Street at Kolkata, we immediately could see pictures of a busy street, one-way traffic and a stretch full of life. Just like Anjan Dutt mentioned in one of his songs - এ কলকাতা ১৬ আনার - এ কলকাতা ১৬ আমার! It is a known fact that Park Street was once a place, the only place in India which provided earnings to 1000 plus people from various professions - be it a Cabaret dancer, a magician, a waiter, a saxophonist, a prostitute, a waiter : a place for all.
That Park Street has lost it's charm. Though, you will still find one of the best coffee shops here, one of the best places to have Continental dishes, a stretch full of restaurants and bars on both side of the road, neon signs, a busy traffic police and all. There are places which are still operational but submerged in nostalgia and emotion without any value for money and there are places which has remained their charm and quality intact.
In this blog, I will write about those places which are either too good till date or has downgraded like anything. In one word, a true picture of all the iconic restaurants on this street. The blog will be updated often.
𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗞 𝗦 𝗧 𝗥 𝗘 𝗘 𝗧 𝗧 𝗔 𝗟 𝗘 𝗦 : 𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗧 𝟭
Oly Pub is perhaps the most overhyped places on Park Street. I have read numerous articles here and there stating that Oly Pub is perhaps one of the cheapest bars of the town. Well, either they don’t know other bars or they don’t have any research or they are habituated to pay more than 2000 INR for nothing.
The drinks here are not at all cheap, in fact almost similar to other places around. It’s fine if you just want to have a quick drink or two and leave! Coming to the food, I am not really sure where to start from. People talk about their 𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒇 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒌 a lot but it’s simply buffalo meat and it’s not even a steak. Period. I find the 𝑨𝒍𝒂 𝑲𝒊𝒆𝒗 to be better but no other food is worthy. Most of the dishes are served cold and without salt. For the first time in my life, I saw a 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒊 𝑲𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒃 to be brown in color. I asked them if they gave the correct order and they replied "𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙚𝙝!". Even the 𝑪𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 seems to be of low quality. The 𝑴𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 was not up to the mark in terms of taste. All these are not an example of a bad day at the kitchen but the same story, everyday. Neither, they take feedback or they try to improve.
I generally avoid going there to eat or to drink. A quick pint of beer or a peg is fine, nothing more than that. The kitchen has no hygiene at all. The behaviour of all the waiters here are just too rude. There is a catch! If you tip them well (as per their demand), you will be served well. Their expectation is high just like the expectation of the gatekeeper. You need to keep a separate budget just for tips, that’s one specialty I find about Oly Pub.
God only knows why people of Kolkata are so much obsessed with this bar!
𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗞 𝗦 𝗧 𝗥 𝗘 𝗘 𝗧 𝗧 𝗔 𝗟 𝗘 𝗦 : 𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗧 𝟮
Whenever people talk about Peter Cat, Park Street, it is to highlight the vintage feel and the 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒐 𝑲𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒃 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. Since last many years, their signature dish has degraded drastically. Infact, being a food blogger, I found 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔 making better Chelo Kebab than Peter Cat. Or, you may say that the platter of Peter Cat remained the same but Trincas came out to be better. Now, people really do not know Trincas for their Chelo Kebab. The kebabs given in the platter are dry, at Peter Cat. I like the fact that they serve beer in a copper-silver mug. It really gives a vintage feel. The "𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘢" (Mixture from Raja Bazaar) is all the same all across Park Street. But, the 𝑰𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑲𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒃 of Peter Cat will get .5 points more than any other places on Park Street. They make it perfect.
Therefore, I will go to Peter Cat to try some other dishes but definitely not for the Chelo Kebab that other people go for.
𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗞 𝗦 𝗧 𝗥 𝗘 𝗘 𝗧 𝗧 𝗔 𝗟 𝗘 𝗦 : 𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗧 𝟯
One Step Up at Park Street is known to serve top-notch Continental offerings however, this place serves many other cuisines starting from Chinese to Mughlai. Few days back, I visited this place with a friend to try something different. Before that, our local gang visited this place for a dinner during last year's Durga Puja. The snap of the 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫
was taken during that time. Before this visit, I was having Continental food very often and hence decided to settle down with a warm bowl of 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐲 for myself after gorging on some 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢è𝐫𝐞 with 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫. There was this plate of 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐲 too.
The Fish Meunière is perhaps one of the bests, I tasted in Kolkata. Anyone visiting this place for a lunch/dinner must try this dish. The fish was fresh, the sauce was prepared perfectly with brown butter, parsley, lemon, garlic, etc along with a generous amount of mushroom in it. 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋!
The Burmese Khao Suey on the other hand was decent. Not like the traditional one that we get at 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂'𝒔 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒌𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒚 but a decent, comforting bowl served with all the condiments. The Chop Suey was also very good, loaded with meat and prawns and eggs.
Don’t make the same mistake like us by ordering a single dish for one person. Here, the quantity is huge and can easily be shared by two. Though, I managed to complete the Khao Suey all alone, my friend had to pack most of the Chop Suey.
What I like about One Step Up is the politeness of the staffs. They listen to your preferences. On most of the occasions, you will get a seat as soon as you arrive because this place, god knows for what reason, remains not-so-crowded. The Bar Menu is vast and most of the drinks are available.
These places are not at all unknown to the foodies of Kolkata however, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐔𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝!
𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗞 𝗦 𝗧 𝗥 𝗘 𝗘 𝗧 𝗧 𝗔 𝗟 𝗘 𝗦 : 𝗣 𝗔 𝗥 𝗧 𝟒
Mocambo has always been my one-stop place for 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒔, and 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 and few other continental dishes like Chicken Ala Kiev, Cordon Bleu, etc. Not sure, if this was one off day or not, but the last time I went there, the Devilled Crabs were up to the mark. There was no crab meat at all! A very small quantity of crab meat, too much of shell which was covered with cheese & mustard sauce,
topped with boiled eggs which was not even fresh. Did the quality seriously go down?
On the other hand, the 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒌 was nice. The pepper-garlic sauce was nicely prepared. The 𝑰𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒇 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒌 was the best of the lot. I opted for medium and the meat was of brilliant quality. Paired the Steaks with some 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒔 & 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 to make it a meal and the lunch was done. The starter could have been much better though!
I prefer Sizzlers at Trincas nowadays and hence, no Sizzlers here. Sorry, if you are a fan of Mocambo’s Sizzlers! Lastly, the Bar menu is huge here but the stocks are less. Most of the drinks are not available most of the time and finding a good wine at Mocambo is like finding water amidst a desert. They should think about this!
PS : The 𝑴𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐 is still the best in Kolkata, I bet!
To be continued....
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