Sree Annapurna of Calcutta - Egmore [Chennai]

Decent Bengali food in Chennai at decent prices; that what “Annapurna” is all about! We had heard a lot about this place from the time we landed in Chennai. Finally on a public holiday this year we went there to have a Bengali meal in Chennai!! It is a small place, hardly accommodating about 15-16 tables in all.  I found out that this is a family run business and they have not changed much for a long time.

The place does not have a fixed menu; day’s menu is written on a whiteboard!! It reminded me of old pice hotels of Kolkata. The menu is pretty basic; everyday there is a fixed veg thali with about 2-3 types of fish including prawns [You can get Hilsa if you are lucky], 1 chicken curry, 1 mutton curry and ‘Hanser dimer kasha”. You have  choice of biriyani or Pulav additionally.

We ordered for basic thali which consists of rice, dal, 1 veg sabji, shukto and something resembling mashed potatoes. It was pretty basic and in truth not very inspiring beginning. We ordered the “Rui macher jhal” (Fish curry), “Kosha Mangsho” (Spicy Chicken curry) and “Chingri macher bati chachhori’ (Prawn). Among all these, the fish was ok, not very good and the piece was very small. Prawn was very disappointing, not tasty at all. The best one was Chicken kasha. It was really nice and we ordered pulav to go with it. I was hungry for more and also ordered ‘hanser dim kasha’ (Spicy egg curry). This was the best part of our entire meal. Pulav was very good and also the “hanser dim kasha” was spicy and very tasty.

Well, there are lots of improvement scopes but still if you are in Chennai and craving for Bengali food, try this place. The prices are very very reasonable. The veg thali was 45/- , Chicken was around 70/- , Hanser dim kasha was 25/-. For 2 of us the total meal including 2 veg thali, chicken curry, fish curry, prawn curry, egg curry and 1pulav in total cost us around 300/-. We would suggest you to try the pulav with kasha mangsho and Hanser dim kasha; you can’t go wrong with it. The place does not have any seat booking policy, so be ready to wait standing beside a table if you are going on weekends. Seriously be ready to wait half hour to one hour during lunch on a Sunday, I know it from first hand experience!! Do not expect great ambience but just go for the Bengali food.

OUR RATINGS:

Ambience: 1/5

Food: 3.5/5 [Considering it’s in Chennai]

Service: 4/5

Price: 4.5/5

Overall: 3.5/5

OUR TAKE:

A pace to visit when feeling homesick and craving Bengali food in Chennai. There are not many places where you can get decent Bengali food in Chennai at this reasonable price. Also you will meet lots of Bengalis.

Sholo Ana Bangali - Prince Anwar Shah Road [Calcutta/Kolkata]

Authentic Bengali food at unbelievable prices. That might sound very like an advertisement but trust me that what “Sholo Ana Bangali” is all about! I had discovered this place while I was a student and this time when we visited Calcutta, my husband and I decided to try out this place once again. It’s a 1 minute walk from the South City Mall. If I remembered it as good, it had turned out to be better.  For one, the place has extended (yet it still remains very small, hardly accommodating about 10-12 tables in all). There were beautiful lanterns hanging and the entire place has received a redo.

We ordered Luchi(poori), Paneer er Kofta and Jhuri Aaloo bhaja. I can use only one word to describe the experience – bliss! The luchis were soft and fluffy, the paneer was succulent (something that even the very best of restaurants sometimes fail at) and the jhuri aaloo bhaja was crispy! Then came the Sadaa Bhaat (Plain Rice), Kosha Mangsho (Chicken curry) and Barishal er Sorshe Ilish (Hilsa in mustard sauce). The way the food tastes, I have only one worry – proper marketing technique employed and this place will soon give Bhojohori Manna or 6 Ballygunge Place a run for their money! Had a fulfilling Bengali meal after a really long time. We ended our lunch with Maalpua (Indian sweet pancake) and Aam Doi (a dessert made out of mango and yogurt).

However, not all is so goody-goody at this place. Two things that stand out in stark contrast to the great food and the homely ambience are the unavailability of certain dishes and the unprofessional attitude of the waiters. At first we were pretty disappointed with the fact that "Mangsher Chop" wasn’t available although it was mentioned in the menu. Nor was Aalu’r Dom available, which one would have thought to be a pretty common side dish to be ordered with the luchis. We had to reframe our choices, but once the food came; it bowled you over! The second thing that deserves mention is also something which needs to be improved. The waiters are very polite but thoroughly unprofessional. One of them tried to fit in the frame every time we clicked a photograph and I had to actually suggest him to move out of the way. However, what I found disappointing is that the bill is put before you on the table even before you are done with the finger bowl! Now that is definitely something that leaves room for improvement. However, I assume these are teething problems that should resolve themselves with time.

Now for the prices. Sit tight or you may fall off the chair. Literally. 1 plate had 4 luchis and came for a price of Rs. 25/plate while the aaloo bhaja (which sufficed for 2) was priced at Rs. 10/- for a plate. The Ilish maach was Rs. 100/- and you can see the size for yourself. The chicken was Rs. 80/plate for 4 huge pieces. The Maalpua and the Aam Doi were priced at Rs 50 each and I thought that the latter was a bit over priced, given the quantity. But then, when something tastes so heavenly, who is complaining?  We finished gobbling all that plus some soft drinks and managed to pay Rs. 500/- for a meal of two including the tips!

All in all, a place you should definitely visit if you crave Bengali food.

OUR RATINGS:

Ambience: 3.5/5

Food: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5

Price: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

OUR TAKE:

What we found interesting that this place is frequented by college students and families alike. I was rather amused when a Non Bengali guy coaxed his Bengali friend to try out the awesome “Mochar Ghonto” which he vouched was “the best in Kolkata”. A complete must visit.