Restaurant review: Back... To the Desi Cafe in Kolkata
If you are tired of hitting the same old joints in Sector V, Salt Lake,
Kolkata, there's a hip new place to take your lunch break at.
A roomy look, courtesy the high ceiling and the mezzanine floor dining area
If you are tired of hitting the same old joints in Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata, there's a hip new place to take your lunch break at. With over 200 IT companies dotting the area, it could be just the thing that techies in the vicinity have been wishing for.
As you enter Back…To the Desi Cafe, the first thing to catch your attention is the sense of space. The high ceiling with a mezzanine floor dining area in one corner gives the place a roomy look, and glass walls make for great natural lighting. Also dressing up the place are cute couches patterned with book spines and a bookshelf featuring a mish-mash of easy reads.
The menu is divided into Indian and continental subsections - a bit of a delightful khichdi. So, while the desi starters feature prawn koliwada and ajwaini aur peeli mirch ki kebab, the ones on the 'firangi' side include crispy cornflake prawns and sweet corn and cheese cigarillos. Now, we don't really know what's a peeli mirch, but the stuff brought to us on a platter consisted of dainty, well-flavoured fish kebab with wedges of lemon wrapped in a gauze. Vegetarians shouldn't miss out on the aloo ke tuk, dainty discs of aloo tikki with tangy sweet-and-spicy masala coating.
The restaurant takes the 'east-meets-west' theme a step further with 'nazzas', or naan pizzas. For example, the keema do piyaza nazza and chicken tikka nazza coexist on the same page as their continental counterparts like the four-cheese pizza, pepperoni and classic margherita. All pizzas can be converted into nazzas.
The main course is equally varied. B2D biryani and meat beliram find themselves on offer along with classics like pot roast lamb and lobster thermidor. The pasta course includes spaghetti carbonara, amatriciana with not-so-common options like fusilli bellaroma and penne with mushroom stroganoff sauce.
While the service was a little slow, especially on the drinks, it did not exactly make our patience run thin. All in all, not a bad destination for the foodie.
Peeli mirch ke kebab
Aloo ke tuk
Meal for two
(alcohol extra) Rs 1,200
(033) 23576444/45/46
As you enter Back…To the Desi Cafe, the first thing to catch your attention is the sense of space. The high ceiling with a mezzanine floor dining area in one corner gives the place a roomy look, and glass walls make for great natural lighting. Also dressing up the place are cute couches patterned with book spines and a bookshelf featuring a mish-mash of easy reads.
Every section in the menu features desi and continental variants
The restaurant takes the 'east-meets-west' theme a step further with 'nazzas', or naan pizzas. For example, the keema do piyaza nazza and chicken tikka nazza coexist on the same page as their continental counterparts like the four-cheese pizza, pepperoni and classic margherita. All pizzas can be converted into nazzas.
The main course is equally varied. B2D biryani and meat beliram find themselves on offer along with classics like pot roast lamb and lobster thermidor. The pasta course includes spaghetti carbonara, amatriciana with not-so-common options like fusilli bellaroma and penne with mushroom stroganoff sauce.
While the service was a little slow, especially on the drinks, it did not exactly make our patience run thin. All in all, not a bad destination for the foodie.
Peeli mirch ke kebab
Aloo ke tuk
Meal for two
(alcohol extra) Rs 1,200
(033) 23576444/45/46
