if in kolkata ,go there!!

6^th Ballygunj Place

Legs tired from touring the Esplanade area, our stomachs drove us to 6^th Ballygunj place, a restaurant in the posh Salt Lake area. The restaurant from the outside looked entreating to us hungry souls. When we entered the place our ears were treated to the traditional Dhak music playing quietly in the background. Emitting the Kolkata within, the decor included a wall dedicated solely to photographic posters of famous Bengali movies from the likes of Satyajit Ray.

Our first order to experience the cuisine of Kolkata was the non-veg thali, and quite frankly the big put off on its arrival was its quantity vis-a-vis  thalis at anyplace else. But past this impression lay an amazing treat .The thali included items such as their staple rice, luscious and velvety luchchis (maida puris) ,fairly good prawn curry and the absolutely sumptuous Kasha mangsho (spicy mutton curry) ,true to its write up this one was a treasure owing to its tender mutton ,perfectly cooked spices and rich colour and homely appeal.

The unexpected, small but wonderful delight was the unusual pineapple chutney. Almost on the verge of getting ignored we luckily tasted this sweet accompaniment and thanks to its thin, fine sliced pineapple and banana in sugar syrup, it was new and good!

Being a hard core non vegetarian, the veggies on the thali somehow never gained my attention. The only vegetarian item which did was our order of Chollar dal (chana dal). Now I’ve had chana dal before but Kolkata has its own essence and with its coconut ingredients, the dish was again unique to the restaurant homely, authentic, simple yet unordinary.

Next in line was the surprise package, the Bhetki patruri- the soft fish wrapped under the folds of fresh banana leaves served in the shape of small rectangles-this one was from the rebellious family, strong in its flavour, dominant in mustard ,one bite and a pack full of unapologetically smacking twist to the fish would fill your mouth. It was marinated as well as coated with mustard and then roasted along with steamed banana leaves.

Now comes the star of dish of the restaurant as well as the evening-the Dab Chingri – presented dramatically inside a coconut ( dab) on which the chingris (prawns)  is actually cooked. The prawns were cut in mini squares removing the hassles of its shells but what made this dish absolutely a must have was its beautiful equilibrium of sweet and sour. It was out of this world and that is why it quickly became the reason for sheer jealously behind the grins across the table. The restaurant aced this delicacy and becomes the reason for its recurring customers.

The deserts included the rajbhog which true to its name was majestic, the gulab jamun was average and the mal pua could’ve been softer, but the misti-doi served chilled in the authentic kullad tasted heavenly.

When we were done, the waiters served us humongous bowls of brown looking liquid stuff, we happy from our new friendship to some of the die-for dishes thought it was another one of our orders but to our embarrassment on  inquiry it turned out to be the restaurant’s special tea liquor finger bowl!

Thanks to zomato for guiding us to one of Kolkata’s top and finest restaurant .Disregarding the quantity, 6^th Ballygunj place lived up aptly to its name serving us the unique delicacies of Kolkata with warm ambience, good but a little delayed service.

Best offering and must try-Dab Chingri (good lord!)

Rating- 4/5