Fishy Business - Ecstasea

There are some great new small eateries coming up all over South Calcutta as more and more Bengali entrepreneurs take to the F&B industry. The latest in line is a tiny little joint called Ecstasea, which has something unique to offer. As the name perhaps suggests, Ecstasea serves sea-food, almost exclusively.

I popped in on a rainy afternoon, with some concern, since I am not what one would consider a fish person. I have actually been unable to eat fish for most of my life, the smell of Bengali fish curry makes me vomit. But I have been slowly getting over my fear, ever since a friend introduced me to sushi, which I completely fell in love with.

Ecastasea is a tiny place, seating perhaps a maximum of 12, and is primarily a takeaway joint. While sea-food may not be a very new thing for many people, the unique thing about Ecstasea is that there’s squid, Octopus, Pomfret, Mackerel, deep sea crab and even Sole fish on the menu.

We began with a sea-food soup which was absolutely wonderful and hit the right spot. Mild, light but extremely tasty, containing bits of fish, squid and other assorted goodies along with green vegetables and the like.

This was followed by two of my favourites, Squid Masala and Octopus in Green Curry. Octopus in Green Curry isn’t on the menu, but if you request for it, they will prepare it for you. It’s Thai Green Curry, and with the unique taste and texture of Octopus, it’s quite a treat. 

The Squid is prepared coastal style, on the dry and spicy side, with coconut milk, and has that unique you-just-cannot-stop quality to it. 

The seafood noodles, done gravy style was superb as well, although I was unable to appreciate the Sole fish, and the Pomfret, since they were just a bit too “fishy” for me. But my friends carried on chomping, and seemed pretty happy. Everyone seemed very happy with the deep sea crab as well, which had a soft shell, soft enough to chew through, although the meat was a little stringy.

Quite a revelation from a small, neighbourhood joint.

Their prices are not too steep, and a meal for two can set you back about 500-600 bucks. The portions, while adequate, can tend to be on the smaller side.

Ecstasea delivers within a limited area, and they do have a minimum billing requirement for that. But talk to them, they’re nice people, maybe they’ll work something out for you. Here are their numbers

+919830092424

+919831387882

+919230017447

+919337331370

DIRECTIONS:

Enter Lake Road from the Lake Road-Sarat Bose Road Crossing, and you’ll find it on your right after a couple of houses. The official address is…

P241 Lake Road,

Kolkata 700029

Follow them on Facebook, or hit up their official website.

Happy munching!!!

DISCLAIMER - I was invited to try the food by a friend of the owner's, and all food was complimentary.

Winter Special: Nihari @ Islamiya

There aren’t many dishes that you have to get up at 4am to have, and even less that justify such torture in winter. Nihari would satisfy both those conditions.

For those not in the know, Nihari is made mostly with beef, but sometimes with mutton. It is meat, cooked all night with special spices, on a slow flame, and served at the crack of dawn, as a heavy spicy, soup. This is a dish available almost exclusively in winter. The best Nihari in Calcutta is served in the Chitpur area, in the neighbourhood of the Nakhoda Mosque. The trick is to get there before the very limited stocks finish. What this means is that you have to get there around 5:30 am, because proceedings start drawing to a close around 6 am.

The most famous Nihari serving shop is of course Sufia, which is right opposite the Nakhoda Mosque. But the problem there is that people line up their cans outside the shop from the previous night, and you may, like I did, be greeted by the waiter’s cheeky grin and “Nihari khatam hai”. The only way to guarantee that you get Sufia’s Nihari in the morning, is to add your can to the queue at night.

Unbelievable as it may sound, even before sunrise on a winter morning, Sufia was packed with some fifty people, all slurping away at their Niharis, with rotis or daal-puris on the side. I walked out, and asked the shopkeeper across the street if there was any other place serving Nihari, and the name I got was Islamiya. The man assured me that their stocks of Nihari last quite a while. It was simple enough to find, just walk in from Nakhoda, along Zakaria Street, and take the right turn from the 2^nd big crossing and walk right till the end of the lane.

Islamiya is not exactly what one would call fine dining, but has the very typical atmosphere of a traditional Muslim eatery. But even though the surroundings may be humble, the food served is a class apart. There is no concept of a private table in places like this. Your waiter simply seats you at any table that happens to have an empty chair.

I ordered half a plate of Nihari, which I was told would have two pieces of beef. The full plate would have four. With it I asked for tandoori rotis. Served with chopped coriander leaves and lemons on the sides, the Nihari was thick, beautifully spiced and the meat was literally melt-in-your-mouth. The fresh coriander and lemon juice cuts through just right. It has a sinful looking layer of oil on top, but I learned from the other folks at my table, that it was possible to request the waiter to serve the Nihari without that layer on top. But somehow, I don’t really think about calories when having such delicious beef. The tandoori rotis were soft, fresh, and warm and I sat there tearing off pieces of roti, dipping it into the Nihari and chomping away, feeling completely blissful.

The best part about eating at a place like this of course, is the bill. Half a plate of Nihari, two tandoori rotis and a cup of hot tea and I paid the princely sum of Rs. 65/-.

Later in the day, on a walk through the Maidan, I had the good fortune of meeting the owner and he recommended the malai kofta at Islamiya. I think I’ll try it next.

Until then, keep munching.

DIRECTIONS:

You can find Nakhoda Masjid here and here is Islamiya's address...

Islamiya Hotel,
73, Maulana Saukat Ali Street,
Kol - 73

Tibetan Delight

We wanted to start a blog about what is our biggest priority in life, FOOD! Now everyone knows about the big restaurants, but how many we wonder, know about the smaller restaurants, so many of which dot our urban landscape and manage to cook some amazingly good food. Tibetan Delight fit perfectly our idea of a “secret restaurant”. It’s a small place, hidden away in a way that would make it impossible for you to find unless you were actually looking for it. So, first things first…

DIRECTIONS:- Imagine you are walking towards Hazra crossing from Exide Crossing, keeping on the left side footpath of Chowringhee. The second left that you come upon is suburban hospital road, home to Hamro Momo, Orchid and Momo Plaza. Now right on that corner is a weird wrought iron balcony type thingy hanging from the building. Proceed from that corner along the main road, until you come upon a gap between two buildings. Take a peek inside, if you see blinky lights in the distance, you’re there. Go in and take the first left which presents itself.























What do you expect once you’re there? Not white table cloth and silver. Like we said earlier it’s a fairly small place, about four tables, in a small room which is on the ground floor of a building which seems very typical to this part of town. But think big, fat, succulent, juicy momos, pan fried in fiery red sauce, and you’ll find that the upholstery ceases to matter.

That is what Tibetan Delight is most famous for. The pan fired momos are like nothing we have found in any other restaurant all over Kolkata. The Thukpa is rocking too, it’s one of the best we’ve had in Kolkata. We love it even more because of the clear soup, which is a welcome change from the usual cornfloury thukpa you get in Calcutta. So it’s filling, without being too heavy. Apart from this, they have the usual noodles and fried rice and chilly chicken and whatever other hackneyed Chinese staple you can think of, and more. And you must try the roast chilly pork. Big, fat slices of pork, with just a little bit of fat on the sides; perfect as a side dish, or just to nibble on while you’re sipping on that beer, or that ice cold glass of vodka and some very cordial lime. No, they don’t serve alcohol, but we wish they did.

The food overall is a little on the spicy side, but the cook can normally make things less spicy if requested, and the person waiting tables is fluent in Bangla, so you can feel at home. Tibetan Delight is also perfect for foodies who are on a budget. A very filling meal for two usually comes for less than Rs. 300/-. As far as we know, they don’t deliver, but they do pack.

CONTACT INFORMATION:-
Address:- Tibetan Delight, 66/1, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata 700020
Phone numbers:- 98361-55351/98368-73130/98366-70601