This South Kolkata cafe brings a slice of the hills on a plate

The idea of running an eatery was conceived during their school days, and when avid riders and travellers, Dipan Bhattacharya and Somdutta Mondal finally had a chance to fulfil their dream, they built Montanas Café around a mountain theme.

Every corner of this cosy, little 12-seater joint is filled with love and reminiscent of the roadside eateries and home kitchens in the hills that serve hot, delectable momos and soupy noodles. Decked with flags, wind chimes, décor pieces, and paintings, the café features a strategically placed air conditioner on the wall to create a misty effect on the colourful glass panes overlooking the street, further enhancing the mountain theme.

With an ambience that transports us to the mountains, we began with the piping hot Spicy veg Spiti momos and Zojila chicken and cheese momos. Also worth trying are the Chicken popcorn pit stop and Everest prawn triangles. The former is a tribute to the hills down south, featuring bite-sized, juicy chicken pieces sautéed with mustard and curry leaves. The prawn triangles, filled with a spicy prawn mixture and wrapped in filo pastry before being deep-fried, tasted best when dunked in an extra spicy sauce.

The Chicken ema datshi was comfort in a bowl. Served with a side of plain rice, the cheesy, mildly hot curry was rich with capsicum, bell peppers, and diced chicken, topped with a dash of chilli oil. It was comforting even on a not-so-cool evening and could easily become your go-to meal for the upcoming winter season. The Chicken ramen rev booster was overloaded with toppings like shredded carrots, cabbage, chicken bits, jammy eggs, and soft noodles in a spicy broth. It was delicious, though we would have loved it to be a bit slurpier.

The star of the show was definitely the pillowy soft Chicken baos. Stuffed with a barbeque chicken filling, we loved the melt-in-the-mouth baos so much that we devoured a couple of them even after a wholesome meal.

Price for two: INR 350 onwards.

At Sarat Bose road.