Editor-in-chief
If you love spices, ‘Dhakai taste’ and fish this is the perfect destination for you. Sweet teeth please excuse! Garbed in Bengali ethnic attire ‘White Pyjama and off-white Panjabi’ the servers of the Padmaparer Rannaghar excels in ‘atithi deva bhavo’ so in terms of service you get the absolute benefit of the money expended. Rates are very reasonable as GST is still not applicable on food by Padmaparer Rannaghar.
Delicacies:
Bengali cuisine menu has a variety like Mohon Madhuri Posto, a preparation of omelette with a spread of Posto (opium seeds) gravy on it; Biryanite Ilisher Ogotabash, where the Hilsa fish remains buried under the heap of rice; and many dishes like Amritamanei Bhetkir Jhal, Nitya Sundar Macher Teler Tel Kai and many more to choose from. Being an a la carte type you get a wide variety to combine your platter.
Good news is that you can also find South Indian dishes here from Plain Dosha to Chicken and Mutton Dosha, Plain Uttapam to Mixed Uttapam and more.
Res-Tory-
The restaurant was established in 2004 with the objective to serve the ethnic and pure Bangladeshi cuisines to the Indian ‘bonggobashis’. Situated in Gariahat, if parking is on your cards while having a meal then it might be a problem as no parking facility is there in the restaurant and on has to park the car in the parking area and walk up to the restaurant. The chef from Bangladesh gives the food an authentic touch of the other side of Padma River. Small though the food will devour up the space problem.
The Food –
With a warm welcome, we were greeted with their special ‘lime sarbat’ prepared from a fresh lemon, sugar syrup and chilled soda. Bit salty but gives you a fresh tinge to start with the menu. Basmati rice, Chithol macher muitha, dab chingri, Ilish macher matha diye kochur saag were on the main course. Each dish was spicy and had a touch of ‘opaar bangla’ like Chithol macher muitha, a dish made of chithol fish kofta dipped into spicy gravy; the second dish of Ilish Macher matha diye kochur saag (Taro leaves) carried more mustard oil to it giving a flavour rich enough but those who are health conscious might skip it if you are strict with your diet chart.
Another dish which might disappoint the ones who dislike anything in sweet is ‘Dab Chingri’ which has a sweetness filled to the brim of the coconut shell but those who have a hard time with spicy or peppery food can try this dish. The coconut granules mixed in the gravy and the small prawns can be given a try but the curry dominates the dish.
Comes later the complimentary dishes – ‘Begun Pora’ which has a great homely taste and the eggplant lovers must and should try this full of onion pieces, green chillies and some secret spice, if any; and the ‘Mankochu Bata’, a very favourite dish of all the Bengali foodies, mixed with grated coconut is a good one after the meal.
Last but not the least, Padmaparer Rannaghar gives you the typical ‘Paan’, not to eat, but to drink in form of ‘sarbat’ made of misti paan, Bangla paan, lime, sugar and black salt.
Review –
Don’t expect a unique ambience but yes a wide range of dishes and delicacies can be expected. Forget about parking but you will cherish the Paan sarbat once you leave. Special menu during Puja includes Navratna Pulao, Navratna Payesh and Navratna Chutney, Dhakai Chingri, Nawabi Mutton and Nawabi chicken. Pocket pinch for a couple for either vegetarian or non-vegetarian meal can be around Rs. 500 (quite reasonable as it comes without GST). So, one who goes to this eatery drop me a feedback to expand this piece.
