The Bhoj Company

Critic´s Review

• Food: 3.5 / 5
• Service: 3 / 5
• Decor: 3.5 / 5

-By Salmoli Mukerji

The first day of monsoon made us crave for traditional. As we haul ourselves halfway around town in search of this brand new restaurant, to the so-called Bangladeshi tourist dominated para, I wonder what's new. Bangladeshi food currently enjoys the status of coolest Bengali flavours, outside of home — a gastronomical miscegenation with fabulous genes.

DECOR: 3.5

The pristine white speck with an elegant glass door, in the middle of the Sudder Street clutter takes a few minutes for our eyes to settle on. We enter starry eyed... and the smallish space in aesthetic white, combined with jute, cane, glass — subtly jazzed up with local handicrafts of Midnapore catch our fancy. Instantly it hits me, this is new! Sprucing up the ambience has, for the first time down this street, made the familiar so called homecooked" cuisine more palatable.

FOOD: 3.5

For once the familiarity of the menu works wonders, raking up nostalgia, true Bengali style, at our table. Childhood memories and hearsay food tales from across the border flood our conversation. We are delighted to find the perfect monsoon dish to start our meal — Bhuna Khichuri veg ( 40) and mutton ( 80). I discover yet another pleasant addition on the street — the staunch East Bengal menu making space for an eclectic mix of the West Bengal specialties. We dive in, ordering an assortment of delicacies. Shorshe Diye Kalar Thor Bhaji ( 25), Machher Matha Diye Lau Ghanto ( 30), Masoor dal ( 15), Shorse Ilish ( 150), Chitol Maachher Kofta ( 80) and Bhetki Paturi ( 100), Kanchha Amer Chatni ( 20) and Mishti Doi ( 20).

PLUS & MINUS

What arrives at the table highlights fresh market produce rendered with classic Bengali finesse and paired with friendly service. The grainy Bhuna Khichuri with perfectly luscious gravy-cooked mutton makes a delicious beginning. The crunchy planks of banana stem, well cooked with mustard tempering remind us of tastes of yore from grandma's cookbooks. We need a refill of the delicate Lau Ghanto — the sliced, soft white gourd and brinjals cooked on steam, with the fish head. The masoor dal is too runny for my liking and the spices on the Shorse Ilish and Bhetki Paturi, way too smooth and thick for our taste, losing the subtle delicacy of the coarser grains. But, then we get the wonderful, juicy bites of Chitol Kofta. Then, the delightfully sweet and tangy mango chutney and the spoon hugging smoothness of the creamy, white Mishti Doi to end our meal."