There is nothing like bingeing on delicious Bengali food on Poila Baisakh, and to check out the options of special Noboborsho menus, we ambled to The Serra Café in Salt Lake, Sector V. This new entrant on the city's food map, is a greenhouse spot promising a wholesome dining experience infused with a blend of innovation and tradition.
As we glanced through their buffet on the table menu, dishes like Bel mojito, Aam ghol, Nachos ghugni, Chaat Schezwan phuchka, Eggplant orly, Fried mocha ravioli, Cheese bhora potol posto, Chicken patishapta, Bhaja morola mach and baby spinach salad caught our attention besides a few other interesting preparations.
As we cooled down with glasses of bel mojito, we were served veg patishapta and chingri macher seekh kebab. While the former is a Bengali cousin of our favourite Vietnamese summer roll or fried spring rolls, the latter is a hidden gem in itself. Minced prawn, mashed with spices and rolled into seekh kebabs are tandoor grilled to offer a unique and flavoursome dish that's simply irresistible.
For the mains, we tasted Bell Pepper Basanti Pulao with Chhanar Rezala, Dhakai Pora Mangsho and Kacha Lonka Murgi. The pulao with bell peppers was a fresh take and the chicken was flavourful. The robustly spiced mutton had a fall-off-the-bone texture, and you can also pair it with Cheese Kachori. But, the star of the show was the Chhanar rezala. We never knew that the humble cottage cheese could be turned into something so delicious. The melt-in-mouth chhena tikkis were shallow-fried and dunked in the lightly-spiced yet rich curd and cardamom infused gravy. If not for anything else, we are definitely returning to this place for this item.
Our scrumptious meal predictably ended with a dollop of Nolen gur cheese cake.
Price for 1: Veg: 799+ | Non-veg: 899+
Available from April 12-14