The ancient city of Kolkata was on our list of must-visit cities and when we planned a 10-day trip, it fit perfectly into our plans. We stayed for two days and went around the city hitting all of the food spots on our list because we TravelToEat :)
Brace yourself for a long read, or you can directly go to the itinerary paragraph below if you just need the travel and food spots covered.
On the morning of our arrival in Kolkata, we took a taxi from the airport to our homestay. This was a much cheaper alternative than Uber or Ola. Our homestay was located at Ballygunge, a quiet and lovely neighbourhood which was close enough to the places we had planned to see. For most of our visit, we travelled mostly via the local bus, metro and a good deal of walking (When we checked, it was around 16 km each day!)
We were super excited to try the local cuisine and the first spot on our list was Tasty Corner, which was actually recommended by our Airbnb host and was highly rated on google maps. It also opened at 7 am which was perfect and the best part was that it was just walking distance from where we were. We got the Hing Kachori and one more item. But unfortunately, we can’t remember it and nor do we have a picture. I was pleasantly surprised as I didn’t know what a kachori was. It is a deep-fried dough and is super crispy. It comes in different forms and is sometimes stuffed as well. It was paired with a lovely potato curry called Alur Tarkari and chilli pickle. It was delicious and slightly on the spicier side.
There was a tea stall right beside this restaurant, so we had a cup of ‘cha’. Here you’ll see a number of brown clay cups to choose from and we picked the biggest. This was the most expensive at Rs. 25! It was flavoured with cardamom and other spices. Tea is a huge part of Bengali culture as we see a number of tea stalls on our stroll around Ballygunge after breakfast with old uncles and many youths huddling around debating various things. We see numerous coloured ancient buildings and pass by open windows, with bright yellow ambassador cars whooshing by. The weather is pleasant in November so the little walk allowed us to enjoy and take in the neighbourhood.
We rested for the remainder of the morning and by afternoon our plan for Day 1 and Day 2 was set. Loads of food spots to eat at and some touristy destinations as well - some of which were a little far off from our homestay. As we had only two days, we decided to visit those spots that were farthest on the first day, thus allowing us enough time to relax on the second day before our flight.
Our itinerary for Day 1 was as follows:
Lunch at Kasturi Restaurant - Authentic Bengali and Bangladeshi cuisine
Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Mitra Cafe
Allen Kitchen
Paramount Cold Drinks and Syrups
College street
Indian Coffee House
Howrah Bridge
Dinner at Arsalan Restaurant and Caterer
Kasturi restaurant was also again recommended by our host and was within walking distance. We read some google reviews and also enquired with our waiter regarding the dishes and finally ordered the Bengali fish fry with Kasundi Sauce which is a breaded fish fry served with a mustard sauce, Doi Mache - ‘doi’ meaning yoghurt indicating the fish i.e. ‘mache’ is cooked in yoghurt based gravy and Kochu Pata Chingri which is a dish made of prawns and colocasia leaves. All the dishes were lovely; the unique taste of the mustard sauce with the fried fish cannot be explained and this was our favourite. The Doi Mache was sweet however and may not be to everyone's liking.
From here we took a bus to the Kalighat from where we could take the Metro to the next stop - Dakshineswar Kali Temple. We had no idea the metro was underground and later learned that it was the first metro line to be established in India and was started in 1984! The ride took us more than an hour and was a cost-effective means of going about the city.
To reach the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, you can take the dakshineswar skywalk built specifically for pilgrims to the temple. The temple would open only at 3 pm, so the skywalk was closed. We waited around and had cha from a nearby stall. As the temple entrance opened, throngs of people rushed in and we followed. It was well-maintained and clean all around. Many people offered their prayers by the banks of the Hooghly river whilst Gray Langurs roamed freely, sitting idly like humans would with their hands on their knees and being fed as well as snatching food from and possessions of passersby. There is a long stretch of over 50 stalls that have pooja offerings for pilgrims and other stalls where you can get religious items and other souvenirs.
Next on the agenda was to primarily hit three food spots. Mitra Cafe has been a part of Kolkata since 1910! Since then they have expanded to have more than 10 branches as per their website. Serving a variety of non-vegetarian snacks as well as main courses. We had the fish fry and the mutton brain chop, soon after which we walked over to Allen Kitchen, which is a small, cosy shop serving fried food for over 125 years! We had their famous prawn kabiraji/fry which is prawn that is dipped in a batter and deep fried in pure ghee. This was truly delicious and a must-try if you are in Kolkata.
Next, we travelled down to College street - known to be the largest second-hand book market in the world. Books stalls of all kinds stretched before us. You could find any category of books here and we were able to bag some books for ourselves as well. Also, two spots on our list were nearby - the Paramount Cold Drinks and Syrups which has been here since 1918! We tried Cocoa Malai and Green mango syrup, both of which were good.
Next was the Indian Coffee House which is very unique to Kolkata, as we had never seen one like this anywhere else in India. Started in the 1940s, this place gives you the old-school vibe right on your face as you enter it. The air is filled with the fragrance of coffee and cigarettes and you can hear the loud buzz of people chatting over books, debating politics and college students having group study sessions. From where we sat upstairs, we could see all the action right from the top. The walls were filled with markings of young loves, waiters in their turbans and white uniforms whooshed around taking orders, serving and billing all at once. We sat there wishing we were smokers (neither of us smokes cigarettes :P), drinking coffee, taking in the air and sights of what was once shared with the likes of Satyajit Ray and Amartya Sen. A must-visit site!
The food was shite though, both hot and cold coffee was watery and bland for 'coffee-house'.
Two more spots and we would finish our first day. One was the Howrah Bridge, an iconic figure in the Kolkata scene and seen in a number of Indian movies. It was beautifully lit up with lights changing colours every few minutes. The place as expected will be crowded with people and lots of vehicles. Our last place for the day was dinner at Arsalan Restaurant and Caterer. I had a lot of expectations for their biryani but it came crashing down as I was disappointed with the flavour. The waiter also suggested a chicken curry that wasn’t great. The mutton stew was good. This has been a highly recommended place so it could be just our opinion.
DAY 2
Itinerary for Day 2 was as follows:
Victoria Memorial
M.P. Birla Planetarium
Chitto Barbur Dokan
Indian Museum
Vardaan Market
Peter Cat
The second day started off with breakfast at Tasty Corner once again with Green peas Paratha and Green peas Kachori. Seeing heaps of potatoes on my plate for breakfast was delightful. The mishti doi and sandesh were also good here. After this, we travelled on a bus to the Victoria Memorial which is located at the Maidan. It is a museum built in memory of Queen Victoria in the then-capital of India in 1921. The marble building and the sculptures are magnificent and the building is surrounded by vast, beautiful gardens around it. Even though the map view shows multiple entrances, you have to go to the main entrance for tickets and entry.
After this, we walked over to the planetarium and took our tickets for the English show which was at 1 pm. Ticket counters open half an hour before every show and there are multiple shows in different languages as per their website. The entrance ‘ritual’ was a bit confusing and you always see a line out front. In actuality, you can go in directly to get the tickets but you’ll have to stand in the queue outside 10 min before the show.
Right in time for lunch, we stopped at a long-established street food shop called the Chitto Barbur Dokan. This place was packed with people huddled on long benches and the staff bringing out plates of chicken stew and toasted bread to customers. We ordered the same and you wouldn’t think they would be listening but they were. The person who took our orders was very friendly, asked about our trip and gave us suggestions on what to try as well. We got our plates and sat to enjoy our lunch feeding bits to the cats under the bench as well. The chicken stew has got a pleasant mild flavour and is a hearty meal. We ordered the batter-dipped fish fry and the fish finger which was yummy along with tea that wasn’t so great. If you are okay with the crowd and the not-so-clean surroundings, then put this on your list.
Next on the list was the Indian Museum. So we began walking and finally got to see a tram passing us by. They were limited to only certain routes and we were so excited to at least see one.
On reaching the museum, we rested for a while in the courtyard enjoying the weather as it cooled. The museum was divided into different sections - Indian art, Archeology, Egyptian, Geology, Zoology etc. There is a lot to see here so make sure to take your time with the exhibits, however, we spent most of our time looking at the cats playing around in the courtyard.
Since we needed to get some shopping done, we visited the Vardaan market which is an air-conditioned shopping complex with many stalls for jewellery, clothes, food etc. We weren’t able to get what we wanted here. A dear friend of mine suggested Dakshinapan Shopping Complex as well and said that it was good for jewellery and clothes. However, we didn’t have time to visit this. In order to get fridge magnets, we went over to the Oxford Bookstore nearby.
The last spot for our final day was dinner at Peter Cat. The ambience was especially good with dim lights and there wasn’t loud music; just the quiet buzz of people eating dinner and conversing. We ordered the Mutton Chello Kebab and the Fried beckty with Tartare sauce along with a Beer and a Bloody Mary. Everything tasted good and we enjoyed the meal.
On our way back to the Airbnb on our last day, we came across Lakshmi Narayan Tea House. Our plan was to get some normal tea for us to take home, but we saw a letter from the USA requesting more of one blanked-out tea printed and kept under the glass table. Curious, we asked him and found it was Darjeeling tea and decided to get some for ourselves because we misheard the rate as ₹600 instead of ₹6000 per kg! lol. However, this turned out to be a serendipitous find, because we looved the Darjeeling tea. It’s simple, mild and has a beer-y citrus flavour.
Our visit to Kolkata ended with us having mishti doi and lassi from Tasty Corner right before they closed for the night. We returned to our homestay, packed our things and slept soundly before catching our next flight. To Meghalaya!
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