It was the day before Deepavali and we had planned to go out and have some salads at a new place I had been hearing good things about. But we had a look at the manic traffic, and changed our minds. Just the day before, I had been caught in the traffic for what seemed like hours. So, I decided that I’d look up Zomato and order something exciting from our part of town.
A few minutes of surfing later, I zeroed in on what looked promising – a delivery outlet called Rendezvous Calcutta in Noida. I called up and was told that it has been around for a while, has mostly Bengali food and delivers through Swiggy.
Fresh and well-cooked
I had an interesting chat with Chef Madhumita, who runs the place (phone numbers: 0120-4267726 and 8826743456). The food is all prepared fresh, so they have to be given some time to cook and deliver. The recipes are authentic, she said, and brushed off one of the Bengali food delivery places that I rather like as “not genuine”. And she helped me choose our order. We decided on a plate of dhokar dalna (₹160), aloo posto (₹145), shukto (₹145), bori-aloo maachh jhol (₹255), maachher kalia (₹210) and tomato chatni (₹70).
The food came within the hour. And we had a delicious lunch, for the dishes, as the chef had promised, were fresh and well cooked. I had the dhokar dalna, which is a dish of steamed besan cakes in thick gravy that I really enjoy. It was superb; the cakes were soft, and the gravy was nice and tasty. I like my aloo posto with more posto (khus-khus, or poppy seed paste) than aloo, but in many kitchens it is cooked the other way around. In Rendezvous, too, it was more of a potato dish than posto. But it had a nice flavourful taste.
The shukto, which is usually a cooling summer dish of vegetables in a light sauce, was delicious. It had a mix of vegetables, and the right balance of mildly sweet and bitter tastes. The two fish dishes were outstanding. There were large chunks of potato and fried bori (lentil balls) in bori-aloo maachh jhol, while the maachher kalia gravy was rich and sumptuous. The fish was fresh, and the pieces were large. Most of the gravies were hot, which I enjoyed after months of a low chilli diet. The tomato chatni, however, wasn’t all that exciting. I must say I’ve had better.
Elaborate menu
I didn’t try out the meat dishes, but will order in another day. They have kosha mutton (₹210), railway mutton (₹ 375), chicken rezala (₹ 375) and chicken curry (₹360). There are other kinds of fish dishes, too – such as pabda tomato jhal (₹ 240) and shorshe pabda (₹ 230). Vegetarians can try out the aloor dum (₹120), phul kopir dalna (₹145), doi potol (₹145), chholar dal (₹100) and begun bhaja (₹50). They have biryanis and rolls, breakfast fare such as radha bollobhi (stuffed puris with aloo) and snacks such as fish fries and chops.
Madhumita tells me that she is not a trained chef, but has always been interested in cooking. She used to be a marketing professional, and then decided to get into the food business. I am glad she did!
