Exploring Pork Dishes in Kolkata

While I am an avid consumer of all kinds of meat, pork occupies a special place in my heart. I believe that pork meat ranks absolutely on top of the varieties of non-vegetarian food with its soft meat and lots of lard adding taste to any recipe which you may use to prepare your dish. Unfortunately, my base in Hyderabad is not known for quality pork meat and added the religious sentiments of a large segment of the city, this variety of meat is largely ignored by restaurants here. As a result, whenever I visit any other location, especially Kolkata, I tend to satisfy my pining by trying out the latest restaurants which have made their mark for good pork dishes.


During this winter of 2019-20, I visited Kolkata twice in quick succession. I was recommended a whole lot of places by my friends, and I tried to visit quite a few. Of course, I could not make it to the vintage Garia place for pork curry and the iconic Eau Chew in Central Kolkata, but even then the restaurants I went to left me more than satiated. Here is a look at these places.




Thakali (From Top): Pork Choila, Kothey, Momo and Sha Phalay

Thakali Blue Poppy

For quite some time everyone that I interacted with in Kolkata was recommending Blue Poppy Thakali. I had met Doma Wang briefly earlier and been to her Shim Shim earlier, but could never visit this place in Sikkim House, Middleton Street serving Nepalese and Tibetan food. Finally ticked this off in my list with friends where I could try out quite a handful of their dishes.



Thakali (Contd, from Top):Sungur Khutta, Thukpa and Pineapple Pork

Apart from a variety of pork meat dumplings (Momos, Kothay and Sha phaley) and Thukpa which were all very very impressive, what I especially loved were Pork Choila ( a smoky Nepali dish with abundant tomatoes), and Sungur Khutta (Pork Trotters - try the gravy with a little bit of rice). The sweet and tangy Pineapple Pork is also something that should not be missed here.


Cup-E-Bong (From Top): Pork Sausages & Chilli Pork

Cup– E–Bong

I had been following the journey of Amit Haldar and his Cup e Bong on social media for quite some time especially for their pork offerings. The place near Abhishikta complex close to Bypass had good trusted reviews too and so we landed up for lunch and adda here. Chilli Pork, Pork Sausages and Meatloaf (with leafy green vegetables) were all kickass.


Cup-E-Bong (Contd): Meatloaf and Pork Chops

There were also Pork Chops served with sautéed vegetables and mashed potato. Had some nice second Flush Darjeeling tea here.

Pending dishes here: Pork Belly, Pork Platter

Ekdalia Rd

Ekdalia Rd has a new express outlet very very close to my residence near Golpark. I had liked the food at the original outlet during my trip last year, so went back for more this time at the new place. The Pork Chops with Gobindobhog rice is just excellent stuff. Add some nice Pork Sausages in the mix and your day is made.


Ekdalia Rd: Pork Sausages, Pork Steak with Gobindobhog Rice

The place also has other pork dishes such as Bacon Wrapped Pork, Korean Spicy Pork and Pork Sizzler which will be tried on subsequent trips. Kingfish Steak in Chimichurri sauce served with black rice was a non-pork lovely dish suggested by Surojit Rout and I loved that here.


Macazzo

Pork feast continued at Macazzo, a well-regarded restaurant close to Ravindra Sarovar. Bacon-wrapped Chorizo was my top pick from the items we had. Apart from that we also had Pulled Pork and Bacon with Cheesy Fries, and Pork steak in BBQ sauce served with herbed rice.



Macazzo: Bacon Wrapped Chorizo, Pulled Pork & Bacon w Cheesy Fries, Pork Steak in BBQ Sauce

Macazzo is also known for its Darjeeling style Pork Platter, which has sausage, salami, bacon and ham apart from poached eggs. Pulled Pork Sandwich is another dish for which I have seen a few recommendations. Maybe next time.

Surfire, the Coastal Cafe

Initially, I was not very open to the idea of trying South Indian coastal food in Kolkata. But good feedback from many friends changed my mind, and so I met friends over lunch at this restaurant in Lake Place. The pork-starved me from Hyderabad had to try the Goan Pork Chilli (my pick), Kerala Pork Fry and the Pork Burger with a really tasty patty that they have recently introduced.



Surfire: Pork Burger, Goan Pork Chilli & Kerala Pork Fry

I also tried quite a few other dishes of which Thattukada Mutton, a Kerala style mutton dish with a coconut-based gravy (paired this with appam) impressed me the most. The Hyderabadi boneless haleem they make here is also pretty close to the original.

Restricting this post to pork, a few dishes that looked interesting to me for future visits were Pork Kothu Paratha, Goan Chorizo Curry and Pork Vindaloo.

Its time someone does Pork Biryani commercially. Though it sounds like an oxymoron I had once taste this from a home chef. Believe you me the lard really adds taste to a spicy biryani. It is time we start experimenting with this.

#Pork #Kolkata

1 comment:

  1. Commendable reserach.but you missed out one of the best places for pork in kolkata.there is a restaurant besides chadni Chawk metro station named chang wah.ask for item number 69.

    ReplyDelete