Bengaluru’s favourite Bengali restaurant Esplanade celebrated 15 years recently and they commemorated it with an exciting new menu! Bringing back beloved dishes from eras past, including delicacies from the British Era, the Mughal Era and those cherished by the esteemed Rabindranath Tagore himself — the new menu was a must try and so we booked ourselves a table to check it out.
It didn’t take us much convincing to let the team at the venue decide our menu for the day and we began this exquisite culinary journey with the Channa Matar (khova peas) Shrutir Chop, the Calcutta Prawn Cutlet and a Machher (fish) Chop. Three chops/cutlets, three delicious variants — what’s not to like? We dunked them in oodles of kasundi and we were ready for more treats. Of course, this while sipping on some refreshing Aampora Sharbat (made from roasted raw mango pulp).
Next up was the Kankra Chingri (crab and prawn) Paturi, the Macher (fish) Kachuri and the Choto Aloor (baby potato) Dum. We were taken by surprise at this combination of dishes and how well they complemented each other. The paturi scooped up in fish kachuris tasted like a poem that only a Bengali food lover could write, while the aloo dum was good enough to be eaten on its own. Of course, we ordered for some steamed rice to pair these delicious dishes with and the staff decided to make it even better by bringing a Beguner (brinjal) Tel Jhal, a Bhetki Dumpukht and a Kanchalanka Dhonepata Murgi as extra sides. The brinjal, the bhetki and the chicken were alternated in successive bites leading to a culinary daze like none other.
This was food coma inducing indulgences. We needed a break. We sipped on some Gondhoraj Ghol (sweetened buttermilk) and then finally decided to order our desserts to wrap up the meal. The three delicious specialties — Ice Cream Sandesh, Chhanar Malpoa and Misti Doi — found their way to our stomachs, somehow, and we knew were spent! What a beautiful thing to be tired about, no?
Meal for two: INR 1,250 onwards. At Indiranagar.
Email: romal@newindianexpress.com
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