BONGNESE offers a delectable confluence of Chinese and Bengali cuisines. If you are always in a dilemma while choosing between Bengali a n d C h i n e s e d i s h e s , Bongnese is a great option. As we settled in to sample the fare at their Salt Lake eatery, we began with what should ideally be the last dish of a meal — half a dozen varieties of sweet murabbas. Not that we objected to being floored by the sweet and spicy burst of flavours of the bel (wood apple), Indian gooseberry, papaya, pineapple, raw mango and chilli-flavoured murabbas — a perfect sweet dish to end your meal with.
Contrasting interiors
The cosy fine diner has two distinctive interiors dividing the two zones serving Chinese and Bengali food — with Chinese lanterns and Bengali art happily merging into a composite décor. The lunch menu is more inclined towards Bengali cuisine, we noticed. The Nawabgunje’r Mangsher Piyaji cutlet — a delectable fusion of typical Bengali mutton chops and humble onion fritters — floored us with its taste. The next dish was equally interesting — a combination of a chicken cutlet coated with a fine mesh of fried egg, which is a must try! There’s more! The fowl cutlet is stuffed with minced chicken, a filling bite that can be had with basanti (yellow) pulao. The pulao added the optimum amount of sweetness to the platter. We loved the crispy flakes of grated coconut and caramelised onions that garnished the pulao. The spread also includes very common, but widely appreciated dishes such as Bhetki Paturi, Daab Chingri and Pomphret — all retaining a traditional taste.
Some more, prawn-to!
The Bhetki paturi deserves a special mention for being not too spicy. A balanced blend of poppy seeds and mustard seeds lends it a pungent, yet pleasant taste. From the Chinese fare, we tried the vegetarian Meifoon noodles. The gravy noodles, replete with mushrooms, capsicum and baby corn, can very well be a one-pot meal. The starters were scrumptious, and the Prawn Tempura and Drums of Heaven are highly recommended. For dessert, we had the yummy Bengali pancakes called the Patishapta, with a gooey chocolate punch — and we loved every bit of it. “We will be rustling up more surprises for the upcoming Bengali New Year, and we are planning to have more more outlets in the city by 2020,” informs Buddhadeb Chatterjee, Group F&B director of the eatery. Meal for two `1,000 plus taxes.