The call from a journo friend came quite a few days ago. The friend, who is a die-hard foodie, often tells me about new eateries in the city. This time, he was pretty excited about a new establishment in the Banga Bhawan canteen and urged me to give it a dekho.
As I said, this was several days ago. I have all respect for my friend's food instincts, but I wasn't all that keen to go to Banga Bhawan (on Hailey Road, off Kasturba Gandhi Marg).
Unlike other bhawans, Banga Bhawan tends to have bit of a sullen disposition. Every time I ate in the canteen (which was fortunately not too often) I thought the food was largely geared for the very old and the very ill. So I put off the visit, even though I knew I'd drop in there one day.
I did so last week – and was pleasantly surprised. The canteen is now run by one of Bengal's best known caterers, Bijoli Grill.
I've always enjoyed their food – ever since I attended a wedding in Calcutta (years and years ago) where the food had been prepared by them. I've eaten some delicious prawn curry and rice at the Bijoli Grill outlet in Dilli Haat. On another occasion, Bijoli Grill catered the food for a solemn (but food-filled) occasion to mark the death of relative – and for days after that, people only talked about the food.
So I looked at the menu card, had a pleasant chat with the manager, and zeroed in on a few snacks to take home with me. Bijoli Grill serves lunch and dinner – and snacks all through. I was there at around 2 p.m., and found that lunch was still going on. But the fish thali (Rs.85) was over, and while I was going through the menu, the mutton thali (Rs.100) disappeared as well. But the vegetable thali and the egg thali (both for Rs.70) were still there. There is even an ilish (hilsa fish) thali for Rs.270.
Snack menu
I liked the snack menu too. Bijoli Grill serves all the delicacies that Bengal is famous for – from chicken cutlet (Rs.85) and chicken kabiraji (Rs.100) to fish Orly (Rs.130) and fish kabiraji (Rs.160). I asked for a plate of fish kabiraji, fish Orly and chicken pakora (Rs. 140 for six pieces).
The snacks, I discovered later at home over a cup of hot Darjeeling tea, were very nice indeed. The pakoras were soft irregular balls of mashed chicken tempered with coriander leaves.
The fish Orly was a big piece of fish wrapped in a batter of flour and egg. The kabiraji was excellent too – with a large fillet in a lacy covering of again egg and flour. According to one school of thought, kabiraji is derived from the word coverage and is a reference to the lacy cover of the batter (which sort of splays out when fried).
‘Der aye durust aye', goes a saying in Urdu. I am glad I finally paid heed to my friend's suggestion. And I was happy to find a slice of Bengali street food in the heart of New Delhi.
