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The simple place but the food is excellent!
Kadhai Murg
Kolkata, a city with soul and charm
Motorcycle rickshaws in Kolkata
Hi, could anybody give me some information where to book the train ticket from Calcutta to Siliguri and how much does it cost? Also need tips on budget/cheap hotel in Calcutta. How much does the taxi cost from the airport to the center of the city?
try web site of indian rail " indianrail.gov.in"
http://www.irctc.co.in/
is the best site to book train tickets online. You have to register first.
There are not a lot of reasonable and cheap hotels in Kolkata. Check one of
the Guide Books (Lonely Planet is probably the best for accommodation).
Taxi is around 200 Rs, but make sure, you get a prepaid taxi from a booth at
the airport, otherwise they will try to rip you off.
Hi Jain012, thank you for your reply.
Dar ElCordobez, thank you. I will check it out.
The streets of Kolkata are busy, like it is in most of the cities in India. But it seams to be more accepted with human povered rickshaws and people sitting/sleeping in the streets. The chaotice atmosphere is the charm of Kolkata.
We had these wonderful stuff on last Sunday as breakfast and brought home some of them. But we did not like the place as it has a very dirty atmosphere at the same time we wantede to experience with what was continuing since last 250 years. I am sure in glory days this market must be thriving with activity as mentioned in some magazines and some very old news papers.
Next to this place there was famous Chinese restaurant Nanking, which was once pride of South East Asia, very favourite of the Americans& British during the WWII. But it is now closed since 1960s, having resemblace of building directly from Harry Potter picture.
The Chinese breakfast did not disappoint us at all. I liked the fish ball, Chinese Bread roll, and Chicken Momos. We avoided the Pig intestines, though some people said it was delicious. No thanks!!
Calcutta is well connected to most of the places in India. It has daily flights to and from Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Madras(Chennai), Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, The North-Eastern States, Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad and to most of the other important places.
You can contact the airlines offices for more details. There are four main domestic airlines operating from Calcutta Airport. Their contact numbers are given below:
Jet Airways: +913339840000
Jetlite: +913330302020
Indian Airlines : +91331407
Air Deccan: +919831677470 / +913339008888
Indigo Airlines: +919910383838
SpiceJet: +919871803333
Kingfisher: +918041979797
As I have mentioned many times earlier that the city of Kolkata lacks a good South Indian restaurant, which serves their exotic culinary. South Indian food is much more than what it is presumed by other Indian states. An average Indian or a Bengali presumes that South Indian food means only Dosas, Idlies, Rasam, Sambhar, Uttapam etc. They are all vegetarian snacks and most of South Indian Brahmins are vegetarians( who are actually in minority). Tamilnadu and Kerala are supposed to be the highest fish consuming states! Surprised? Yes you should be! Most of the North Indians and East Indian find South Indian food is unpalatable, unattractive and boring. It is simply because they have not tasted/ tried their exotic dishes. They are perhaps equally good or even better than North Indian or Bengali food! During my several trips to South India I never found any problem in eating like other Bengali!
Tamarind is surely educating the gentry of Kolkata about the exotic South Indian food from all four States of South India , Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It's a place worth giving a try as many Bengalis and other North Indian people keep visiting South India for days. I am sure once they get used to their food they will never complain about not finding food to suit their palate in South India.
Decorated in the pattern of a Chettiar house, the place will give you the feeling of having food in a South Indian home. The water is served in copper glasses. Butter milk is served in earthen cups and the food comes in copper pots. It's a place to be frequented! We tried the ever favourite Chicken Chettinad( Rs. 180/- or USD$4) ( An exotic Chicken preparation of the Chettiar community of Tamil Nadu). It is made with special spices of South India and an exotic dish to be had with plain Rice, Parathas or Fried rice or Biryani. We also had Veinchina Mamsam( Rs.220/- or USD$5) ( an exotic spicy mutton preparation of Andhra Pradesh) , Malabar Paratha( Rs40/- or USD1 per piece) ( Parathas made in Malabar cost style of South India) and Butter Milk( Priced Rs45/- or USD1 per cup). Each of the dish was excellently prepared with spice. We savoured every bit of it. The dishes are very reasonably priced. Four persons can have excellent dinner with in Rs1000/-
Perhaps I have wriiten earlier, Calcutta is Gastronomers' delight. You can have dinner for $1000 or just for $1 or even less. This place is Gastronomer's paradise. You can have food of your choice. I have not visited Pakistan, but they say this is just like Lahore. My Pakistani friends Faiza & Aamir will vouch for it. There are some places I want to visit, eat their speciality, write it in my tips but I have only one sunday with me and that is utilized for many things as my life is not organized( I wish I had). But I always try to find out what is available and taste it and make a tip. Many Visitors from Western Countries visit Calcutta and eat junk food at Sudder Street ( Whatever is available there) and fall sick and blame Indian food and the climate. So now I have decided to write a few tips on the food suitable for Western Palate at an affordable price. No this tip is not about that . This tip is about the Pakistani food festival held at Zaranj, one of the premier Restaurants of Kolkata from 7th March to 1st April. We took our America VT friend Camerom Beatty there. It was an excellent lunch and great value for money. We had as Appetizer Burrani ( yogurt churned with milk and freshly boiled Cumin seeds, ginger,coriander and green chilli), Tunda Kebab( finely chopped Mutton keema-drizzled with saffron, cooked on a Flat frying pan with a combination of 32 spices- simply melts in the mouth), Tali Hui Machli ki Chaap ( Tender fillets of Beckti fish, marinated with exotic Peshawari spices, shallow fried), Lahori Nihari with Khamiri Roomali Roti ( Lamb cooked in special garam masala Lajjat a taam and a sheer 70 types potli masala from Bundelkhandi gharana), Multani biryani served with Raita, Gobi Badami( cauliflower cooked in yogurt gravy flavoured with cardamom, saffron and tosted Almond flakes), Zafrani Kheer & Muzzafar ( Sweet dishes made of Creamy saffron and reduced milk and Traditional Shimai blnded with sugar syrup with a topping of Dry fruits) and it all went with my favourite Dansberg Beer!
More photos continued in part -II.
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