Kolkata (Calcutta) Travel Guide

Kolkata (Calcutta), India — Food and Dining

Restaurants in Kolkata (Calcutta), India

Restaurants
Expensive

Dum Pukht
Experience the traditional rich cuisine of royal India at this superb fine-dining restaurant. Food here is covered with a pastry layer as it cooks, allowing the flavors to steam to delicious perfection. A fantastic variety, including some of the best meat curries and seafood specialties you'll ever taste. Open evenings only.

ITC Sonar, 1 JBS Halden Avenue
Tel: (033) 2345 4545.
Website: www.itcwelcomgroup.in

Oh! Calcutta
Ignore the slightly sterile atmosphere of the shopping mall; this place is recommended for Bengali food, with some good north Indian and continental choices too. Dishes use unusual subtle flavors like banana flowers, and innovative combinations of ingredients. Great service, contemporary feel.

10/3 Elgin Road, 4/F Forum Shopping Mall
Tel: (033) 2283 7161.

Moderate

Mainland China
Sterling Chinese food, some of the most authentic in Kolkata. The dim sum is sublime and good to share as a starter, with a tempting selection of steamed and fried dumplings. There are crisp fried dishes as well as those cooked in a heavy sauce; favorites include the Peking Duck, jumbo prawns, and drunken chicken in Shaoxiang wine. The service is courteous and the interior stylish.

Uniworth House, 3A Gurusaday Road
Tel: (033) 2283 7964.
Website: www.mainlandchinaindia.com/contact_kolkata.html

Cheap

Kewpies
With a loyal following, Kewpies is known as 'Purveyors of authentic Bengali food' for good reason. Down a narrow alleyway and dining in the owner's house, it may be small and rustic but that's half the charm. Tuck into a thali (several dishes served on one plate, refilled limitlessly); the boss can help you decipher the choices on the menu. Heartily recommended. Closed Monday.

2 Elgin Lane, off Heysham Road, behind Netaji Bhavan
Tel: (033) 2475 9880.

Peter Cat
A Park Street (and indeed Kolkata) institution, the food here (an assortment of Indian dishes, as well as some continental offerings) is top class and hot value for money. Start by picking an aperitif or two along with some spicy north Indian kebabs. Very popular at weekends, the interior is atmospheric, and the food fresh and tasty.

18 Park Street
Tel: (033) 2229 8841 or 2217 2942.

Nightlife

Kolkata is a big, sophisticated city with its nightlife scene offering a broad array of evening entertainment on offer from the swish to the sleazy.

There are many bars in restaurants around Park Street, good for a few drinks albeit in slightly boozy all-male environments (lone women should exercise judgment), and a few trendy clubs in upmarket hotels, but little in between. Kolkata is short on a middle ground of mainstream pubs popular with a mix of people, the like seen in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru (Bangalore), but there is a slowly growing number and variety of venues.

Most nightclubs have a mix of music styles, with variations of reggae, blues, disco, hip hop, trance, Hindi pop and remixed bhangra (Punjabi dance music). Dress code for hotel nightclubs is strictly smart casual; single males are often denied entry unless they are staying at the hotel in which the nightclub is located.

Bars

Dublin
Situated in the ITC Sonar Hotel, is Irish-bar-style, with a packed dance floor at weekends and different sections with contrasting ambience.

ITC Sonar, 1 JBS Halden Avenue
Tel: (033) 2345 4545.
Website: www.itcwelcomgroup.in

The Park
This hotel nightspot has a great selection of drinking and dancing venues: Someplace Else, an English-style pub with different live music every night, Tantra, a very stylish lounge bar and club, and Roxy, which is a classy cocktail bar boasting a fantastic beverage list as well as cigars to puff on.

17 Park Street
Tel: (033) 2249 9000.
Website: www.theparkhotels.com

Fairlawn Hotel
For an early evening beer, the tiny garden at the Fairlawn Hotel is an easygoing option.

13A Sudder Street
Tel: (033) 2252 1510.
Website: www.fairlawnhotel.com

Clubs

Tollygunge Club
The city also has a history of a strong 'club culture' - that is the private members' variety, rather than dancing. Visitors may sometimes be allowed in without a member. The Tollygunge Club is Kolkata's most famous. Visitors who wish to stay here get temporary club membership.

120 Deshapran Sasmal Road
Tel: (033) 2473 4539.
Website: www.thetollygungeclub.com