A Gastronomic Delight!!!

If there is something, the Bengalis love ... its FOOD!
And I am no different...

In my younger days, I was not much of an eater... but that has completely changed... This of course is very much visible by exxxxtra lards of FAT that I have put on...
Awwwwww... come on; Give the girl a break... who doesn’t like good food?????
Nonetheless, recently on one of my rare, dine out experiences.... I went to the restaurant, 'Oh Calcutta!' at Forum Mall.

We had a table reserved, so were ushered in immediately... (Not that there would have been a problem if we didn’t reserve... coz we were quite early... compared to the standard 'bong' dinner time, and only a few table were taken...)

I had done the reservation in my friend’s name… (He was unaware… & was pretty surprised at this latest development… (Ha ha)

As soon as we entered... the door closed on the din outside… I felt transported somehow…
Soft, melodious, instrumental music, filled my ears with their refrain… the light was just right… the off-white upholstery teamed with the woodwork looked extremely pleasing to the eye… the ambience perfectly balanced & classy…I breathed in filling my lungs with the mouth-watering smell, wafting from a passing food tray…

We were shown to a quite table at the corner of the 'non-smoking section'...
The chairs were pulled out with utmost courtesy for the lady.Preference of water asked & the elaborate menu cards handed over...

I just wanted to get the ‘ordering bit’ out of the way… so we poured over the elaborate menu…
No… actually, I didn’t, because I already knew what I wanted… having had it before…
I waited till my undecided friend froze his choices…

Having ordered food, we unanimously voted for “Aam porar Shorbot’ as the official drink of the evening!!!

As, the waiters left… I took a deep breath, settled back into my chair…and looked around… the cozy couches looked inviting… after a day’s work…but I knew that it was difficult to sit there & eat…

My poor friend who is not used to my surprises…asked me in an amazed tone… “You booked the table in my name??? When did you do it??”

“Ah ha!! Surprised you didn’t I?? I made the reservations in the afternoon…Coz I knew, I would be verrrrrrrrrrry hungry & would not like to wait…” I said impishly, winking at him… He laughed…

As we sat chitchatting about our respective lives, the gentleman serving our table, came with our Cool-green ‘Shorbot’… & and some roasted makhanas with curry leaves… “Some munchies for you…” he said, setting the bowl down in front of me… I must have been really looking famished…!!!

I stopped talking … digging into the bowl for a generous helping!!! My friend just shook his head & laughed…!!! I pushed the bowl towards him… “Khao…” “No .. You carry on..” he said pushing the bowl back… I shrugged & resumed munching…(HUH... BIG deal!!!)



Well we talked some more…I finished the bowl of munchies…down to the last curry leaf…I fiddled with my ever-faithful camera & tried taking a creative shot…



And then the starter arrived… ‘Prawn Kabiraji’… My mouth open in a silent ‘o’ looking at the size of the stuff…it was huge… no wonder, the waiter, when asked, said it’s sufficient for two…!!! It was suffice for four!! They halved the dish & served it to us… Well… it was not that great to taste… there was so much egg in it that I could hardly taste the prawn part… I set aside half & managed to eat half…I wanted space in my tummy for the main course…!!!

The Main course arrived…the white boat shaped bowl of steamed rice… Thakurbarir Chingri Malaikari & Aam Kashundi Kakra…ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
The food served… the waiter receded once again…& I dug in… mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…the aroma of blended aam – kashundi & ginger teased & tantalized my taste buds!!!! The ‘tok-mishti’ taste of Aam with the pungent flavour of kashundi was absolutely lip-smacking!


I could feel the delighted smile that spread across my face…

My friend, thankfully was not too fond of Crabs… so I gleefully had the whole thing to myself… (Damn… that really sounds mean… however, as Tom Cat says…“BUT I AM HAPPYYYYY!!”) I simply love this dish… I generally love to eat shelled crabs…& crack them open myself… but I didn’t want to freak out my friend so I stuck to the de-shelled version.

The portions were quite big…My friend managed to polish off the whole malaikari & the rice…not so with me… I had from the beginning set aside a large portion of the crab… the typical bong that I am... I love taking doggy bags home… (So what??? Waste not want not, is my motto!!)

I tasted just a spoon of the Malaikari gravy… it was nothing exceptional… the original recipe had just been tweaked around with the addition of vegetables… Not being fond of veggies myself… I preferred the traditional version that my Ma makes in her kitchen… (I keep telling her to open a restaurant… it will be a runaway HIT!!!)

I have a badddd sweet tooth… & it was quite impossible for me to end this exotic culinary exposure without having a bite of something sweet…I had just enough place left in my tummy for that…I ordered for a caramel custard…. my all time favourite, my friend chose a mundane butterscotch ice-cream…

I was happily full… the waiter brought my doggy bag… & another got the ‘sweet paan’ as a mouth freshener...

I wanted to pay the bill … but my friend would have non of it… (MCP… But I loved the gesture…)
I chewed on the paan, while the bill transaction was made… & then we left…( had difficulty moving… ha ha ha ha!!)

A great atmosphere… Good company & great food… Altogether a GREAT evening!!!
Here’s to many more!!!!