Three friends, one epic heritage renovation and the charm of neighbourhood adda brought back to south Kolkata

Walking through the doors of the newly opened café Kaldi Bean in the bylanes of Golpark, brought us back to the rustic earthiness and the comforts of our drawing room, leading to the backyard that was all about a game of light and space done up in white and olive. From handcrafted light shades on the ceiling to a map of coffee evolution and paintings on the wall, the space knows how to impress the visitors by incorporating the little things that one usually craves for in the aesthetics. But what makes the place special is that the co-owners, Debanuj Das Gupta, Anasuya Gupta and Amit Sharma, took it upon themselves to re-do the heritage house of popular Bengali actress late Meenakshi Goswami and turn it into a café which embodies the neighbourhood homeliness which is often retracting itself from the modern café culture. And the name? It’s named after the goat herder, Kaldi, who discovered coffee. We went over to the spot to check it out.

What should you not miss at Kaldi Bean?

As the winter chills have already begun to engulf the air, our first choice was a hot Cinnamon cappuccino. The light coffee and the subtle cinnamon flavour won us over. To spice things up, next came the Buffalo chicken wings. Well marinated in spicy buffalo sauce, the crispy and crunchy exteriors gave way to the succulent and juicy meat inside. It was followed by a juicy Grilled pork sausage, which is also available in the chicken variant. The whole spices, in aroma and taste made it appealing. What was strikingly comfortable in eating up the plate was the significantly less oil used in the making process.

Taking a break from all the starters we quietly sipped the Blueberry Ice Spicy. This blueberry-flavoured cold drink came with a spicy punch that made it sweet and hot at the same time. We noticed that the appropriate setting of the café and its reasonably priced menu attracted a lot of nearby college students and locals to sit, undisturbed and spend some time with friends or alone.

The star of our lunch course was the Spaghetti fungi pasta. The umami of the mushrooms complemented the creaminess of the cheese sauce, and the tang of cherry tomatoes was a taste breaker and a pop of colour on the dish. Our final dish for the day was Kosha mangsho pizza, a perfect Bengali-Italian combination with the soft meat straight out of the kitchen pots onto the pizza bread along with veggies and a generous amount of cheese and pizza sauce.  

At 23/ 10 Gariahat Road

Open from 12:30 pm – 10:30 pm

Price for two (approx.): Rs 1000+

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