Oh fish!

A review of the newly opened Oh Calcutta

Being a fish (and food) lover, it doesn’t take much to entice me for a meal. Especially a Bengali meal, since it’s the closest I can get to an Assamese meal. I am on a sort of cooking sabbatical, so finding new restaurants to try out also helps a lot.

So a week or so ago, when I heard that the famous Bengali restaurant chain, Oh Calcutta, was opening its doors in Bangalore, I immediately called my fellow fish lover, Aqua and we were hatching plans for a first visit. Oh Calcutta has branches in Calcutta, Mumbai and Delhi and has now made an entry into Bangalore.

There was hardly anyone when I walked in : obviously the news has not spread far and wide yet. A rarity : to walk in and find a place immediately : and have the staff really attentive to you! I had several helpful staff guiding me to a table as soon as I entered.

I had heard a lot about the mangsho (lamb), so that was definitely on my agenda (and my plate). And fish, of course. Going to a Bengali restaurant and not eating fish is like walking into a bar and ordering a diet pepsi.

The décor is rather understated. No experimentation here : they have stuck to a sober cream and dark wood finish to give it a warm feel. One of the walls has some nice photographs of Calcutta on it and so do the coasters and plates : all with illustrated line drawings of signature monuments like the Howrah Railway station and Victoria Memorial.

Aqua joined in a while later, while I took some time to soak in my surroundings. Once she joined in, we settled into our comfortable seats and studied our rather voluminous menus starting with an aam porar shorbot : made of raw mango : it’s a tangy and sweet drink : nice to start off the meal.

From Restaurants – Bangalore

For the first course, we had the kashor mangsho, luchis and aloo dum. I must say that the mangsho was super – the masala was delicious and made for the perfect combination along with the fluffy luchi. My only complaint : we got mostly bones and so I complained. They then brought us some nice meaty pieces. The aloo dum was okay, nothing very special.

Sufficiently stuffed (but we still had to order fish!) we went on to our main course : steamed mustard illish (boneless), a fried moong dal and rice. The fish was soft and flavourful and the dal was quite nicely done with a rather nice (fried) taste. We finished off the meal with some kheer : if you have a sweet tooth, you’ll enjoy this one.

From Restaurants – Bangalore

There a lot more on offer : for starters : Chana koraoishutir chop (185), badami aloo (185, baby potatoes marinated in mustard, chillies and 5 spices, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed), smoked hilsa (420), crumb fried prawn (425), fish fry (265), murg aam kashundi paturi (260, chicken marinated in mustard, chillies, tangy mango and mustard and grilled in banana leaves).

From Restaurants – Bangalore

From the entrees section, there is the koraishutir dhoka dalna (195, green pea cakes simmered in sharp ginger flavoured curry), cholar dal (110), Calcutta bekti (410), bhapa ilish boneless (495, what we had), daab chingri (425), rui macher dum jhol (145), murgi malai curry (225)

For the accompaniments you can choose luchis, rice, pulao or parathas (35-150). The desserts : malpua, mishti doi, kheer, Oh Calcutta sundae etc. are between 40-90.e

While it compared well to the other Bengali place I frequent, 6 Ballygunge Place, I would stick to the latter for more regular Bengali fare because of the cost factor. But if you’re a food and fish lover, it’s a must try at least once!

Bottom line: Great food, nice ambience
Price: Expensive, we paid around 700 per person for what we ate (might be lesser if you leave out the starters)
Downside: No alcohol
Location: St Marks Road
Valet parking: Yes