Kolkata – Page 10 – soniasmusings

A dollop of Bengal – Esplanade

E is for Eden Gardens – the mecca of cricket, Ecopark – the biggest park in India situated in New Town- Rajarhat and Entally – one of the oldest localities in Kolkata, but for me E is and will always be the heart of the city –Esplanade.

Esplanade –

Situated in central Kolkata, this is the area from where the first tram and then the first underground metro started. It is also one of the busiest areas with 2 to 3 lakh vehicles passing during the rush hours each day. Esplanade has a bus terminus near Shahid Minar from where buses connecting spots within the city as well as places within the state begin their journey. Walking down the streets give a feeling of the bygone era. Most of the vintage cinema halls like Metro, New Empire and Lighthouse have been mostly replaced by multiplexes and malls. The pavement has branded showrooms on one side while street hawkers selling a range of items on the other. It is difficult to walk through the crowded place with thriving business on the street side stalls.

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A dollop of Bengal – Darjeeling & Durga Puja

Quite a few friends of mine were confident about D for Dacres Lane – another old world food paradise housing Chittoda’s famous Mutton Stew to be the featured header today. Few other options that came up were Dalhousie – the office para in Kolkata, the historic Dakshineswar Ma Kali Temple, Bengalis favorite beach honeymoon destination Digha and wildlife rich tropical forest covered hills Dooars/Duars in North Bengal. But the two subjects that make it to my coveted list today are topics extremely close to my heart – Darjeeling and Durga Puja.

Darjeeling –

The queen of Hills has an appeal unmatched to any other hill station. Home to the third largest mountain Kanchenjunga, the city can reached from New Jalpaiguri station/ Siliguri by rented car or the Himalayan range Toy train.While the view of sunrise at Tiger Hills is something beyond the world, the city also has the famous LLyod’s Botanical Garden and Zoo that is home to quite a few endangered species like the Red Panda. The mix of people from Bengali, Chinese, Anglo-Indians, Nepali to Tibetan brings about a unique mix in the cuisine. Noodles, Momos, Thupkas and butter tea are few of the famous dishes here. A speciality of this is place is Alu mimi which is basically Wai wai sprinkled over dum aloo. Darjeeling tea is famous all over the world. The open area mall has a number of shops delighting the tourists. The local market has an amazing collection of woolen clothes which are of great quality yet affordable. The place has the Government tourist lodge along with budget to luxury resorts as stay options. An ideal day at Darjeeling should begin with breakfast at Keventers, lunch at Kunga and dinner at Glenary’s.

Durga Puja –

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Restaurant review – Tamara – Pipal Tree Hotel

Last Friday, we had been checking out pre-schools for our toddler who turns two and a half-year old this March end. Some of the appointments were disappointing, few shocking and a handful were worth trashing but that’s for another time to write. The result of those three hours left us with an exhausted body and disturbing mind. It was almost 2:40pm. So the next thing we decided was to book a cab and head towards the Pipal Tree hotel. On the way I called their in-house restaurant Tamara to make a reservation. While the timings on Zomato clearly said 3:30pm, the staff on the phone kept repeating that the buffet will be over soon and if we would be fine with A-la-Carta. I kept wondering why until I reached the restaurant.

Right at the entrance the guard denied us an entry on the pretext of a company’s ongoing conference that day. Only after we mentioned a prior reservation, we were allowed to get in. The moment we entered, the lady who escorted us to our table was quite curtly informed us that we had the option of A-la-Carta only. After I argued about the buffet timing being till 3:30 did they let us avail the option reluctantly. They had a condition though – we had to finish our meal by 3:30. It was 3:10 pm.

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Restaurant review – Pizza Hut, Near Nicco Park, Kolkata

On a December weekend last year, when we dropped in to the Pizza Hut outlet near Nicco Park, Salt Lake for evening snacks, we were already exhausted and famished from a fun-filled yet tiring day at the Nicco Park. The place had a welcoming look about it and was only partially full when we entered. It was quite evident that this place mainly catered to the crowd from the adjacent Nicco Park but was primarily set up as a delivery joint for the surrounding areas.

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Restaurant review – The Steak Factory, New Town, Kolkata

Barely at a walking distance of five minutes from our residence, the latest entrant in the New Town area this year is an outlet of the restaurant ‘The Steak Factory’. On a Friday afternoon in the middle of this month,while we were heading back home, it was an impromptu decision to visit this newly opened outlet for lunch. The place had average crowd in the afternoon and the experience turned out to be a delight for us.

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Banking to Blogging – my journey of reclaiming my identity via #MoreToMe

The world knows me as a mum and how much I love it! But I also want you to know there’s #MoreToMe. Here’s my #MoreToMe facet, that reflects my passion and gives me so much fulfillment. Last few days this is what has been one of the most trending topics on Facebook. An initiative by Momspresso, this is a way of letting women rediscover their individuality. So here goes my story of #MoreToMe.

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Restaurant review – Afraa Restaurant and Lounge,City Centre, Kolkata

Afraa had been the first restaurant we had decided to visit after moving back to Kolkata. Our son was just eleven months then and we chose to skip having a meal there eventually because not a single listing on any of the sites related to food or restaurant mentioned it as kid friendly. An almost impulsive decision to go at the City Centre Mall on the first weekend of the year finally got me to visit Afraa Restaurant and I definitely felt that this should have happened much before.

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Restaurant Review – in search of the Chinese flavor of Kim Ling

Tangra is rightly known as the China Town of Kolkata. The moment one enters the lanes, it is easy to figure out the reason. A food lover, specially that of authentic Chinese cuisines is spoilt for choices. Ever since I started exploring Kolkata restaurants, I have visited China Town multiple times and somehow Kim Ling became a personal favorite over the years. Over the New year weekend, it was close to 4 pm when we entered the restaurant for lunch.In no time, all the tables were full and the place was abuzz with activities. That goes to speak volumes about the popularity of this place amidst the old and new generation alike.

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Restaurant review – Marco Polo, Kolkata

The city of Joy celebrates every festival with equal vigor and enthusiasm. Park Street area in Kolkata is where people flock to celebrate Christmas and New Year. The area beautifully decorated with lights, trees has an ongoing street food festival during this period. With the variety of restaurants available, this can safely be labelled as a food lover’s paradise. Over the Christmas weekend, we decided to brave the crowd of Park Street and head towards one of the best options for fine dining in the city – Marco Polo.

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Restaurant review – Aminia-that old world charm of Kolkata

The year was 1999 – it was going to be my first stay away from home. Kolkata was meant to be my destination for the next three years and Presidency College Girls Hostel my address. The night before my parents went back to my home town, leaving me on my own for the first time, we dined at the Aminia outlet opposite Elite cinema. It used to be a favorite of my dad’s during his post graduation days in the city. Over the years, there have been quite a few options serving great biriyani but I keep visiting Aminia mostly for the nostalgia it holds in my heart. This weekend, we decided to revisit the Aminia outlet near Chinar Park, Rajarhat and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to see some positive changes in the attitude and feel of the place. Located on Rajarhat road, this outlet had a queue of people waiting to get in when we arrived. It is still that popular.