Kolkata's popular joint Hola Cafe Kitchen starts sizzler and pork festivals

At the Hola Cafe Kitchen near Lake Road, you can say hello to lip-smacking dishes with a twist of health. To celebrate their first anniversary, the diner is organising sizzler and pork festivals from mid December. “And there, too, you will get to taste the very popular dishes made in the healthiest way possible,” says Aarunima Dhawan, proprietor of the eatery.

We were served Teriyaki Pork chops tossed with pok choi and garlic. The pork chops were roasted instead of being fried, informed Aarunima and indeed they were still as succulent and tasty as the traditional way cooked one.

The taste was balanced and subtle. There were Barbeque Pork ribs sizzler, too, and the juicy pork ribs were again roasted to perfection. “In all the dishes served here, we have tried to cut down on oil consumption, without compromising on taste,” says Aarunima, who draws inspiration from the various
cafés and eateries that she went to across Europe with her husband.

As we waited for our next dish to arrive, we sipped on a cocktail called. Between The Sheets. The drink leaves a refreshing and sweet aftertaste and is made of brandy, dark rum, Cointreau and a hint of fresh lime. We enjoyed the drink as we listened to the live band play the Camila Cabello chartbuster, Havana. It is then that our much awaited next dish arrives. The Haji Ali Murgh Malai Tawa Kebab with Lachha Parantha was a familiar dish cooked in an innovative way. Drenched in a white gravy of butter, ghee, cashew nuts and fresh cream, the roasted chicken pieces were served with lachha paranthas made with whole wheat in clay oven. “We do not serve anything made of refined flour here, even the baos on our menu are made with imported lotus stem flour to ensure that people allergic to gluten can have it too,” explains Aarunima.

You can order a plate of their healthy Four Style Mushroom Teriyaki Bao filled with five kinds of imported mushrooms including Shitake, Black fungus, White fungus, straw and button mushrooms, tossed in teriyaki sauce, to go with your sizzlers.

All the sizzlers at the festival will be Asian-inspired with assorted meat sizzler, Japanese sizzler (prawn and rice with Kikkoman and teriyaki sauce) and Indonesian (Nasi goreng with both prawn and chicken satay) sizzlers on offer. We also tried Truffle Pork Belly with Mantao. The pork belly was roasted with truffle oil and assorted spices and sauces.

Price for two Rs 900 plus GST. Dec 7 to 16.