The new restopub in town - Bodega Cantina Y Bar at Park Street

Bodega Cantina Y Bar

Bodega Cantina Y Bar is the newest restopub in the heart of the city - Park Street. Located right opposite Allen Park, the restaurant impresses you by its interiors. A brainchild of Urvika Kanoi and Akash Jaiswal, the interiors are beautifully curated and hand picked during their trips all over the world.

The place is done up with quirky elements like the red container sheet which doubles up as a wall, the graffiti, the interesting cans, books and posters that adorn the wall shelves. Overall it adds a personal touch to the place.

The Bright and Quirky decor at Bodega

Interestingly, its the first place to introduce the community seating concept in Kolkata. Spread across an expansive area of 2700 sq feet, Bodega is divided into two levels- the ground floor houses the bar and instantly creates a fun and groovy setting. The furniture cannot go unnoticed with an interesting collection of warehouse chairs, décor tiles from Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey, and even the crockery is customized and unique. Exposed brick walls form a canvas showcasing the work of various Indian artists that are picturesque and meaningful.

Interesting coasters

The best part is that the place has a personal touch to it and all the little things tell a story, which adds to the charm of the place. If you happen to meet Urvika or Akash during one of your visits to the place, try asking them about the tiny showpieces on the wall shelves and you might just come across a great story.

Ground floor area of Bodega

The food spread is a modern take on all cuisines with special emphasis on Italian, Mexican and Asian Cuisine. From fritters to crostinis, you get a lot of variety here to satisfy all your cravings, The drinks are served in an interesting way, I especially liked the Bengal Mary and the Great Gatsby. The chicken crostinis and the veg spring rolls were quite good. The glass potatoes were also interesting ! But of course, there is scope for improvement when it comes to food. It will be unfair on my part to write too much on food because we sampled only a few items from their menu. Probably, will write more on that once I sample more from their menu.

Chicken Crostini

The Great Gatsby

Fritters (Pic courtesy: Indrajit Lahiri of  https://mohamushkil.wordpress.com/ )

What impressed me most was the thoughtfully designed invite. Very rarely do you find restaurants putting so much thought into invites and return gifts.Like the restaurant, the invites were something very warm :)

A lovely evening with fellow bloggers : Debjani, Devpurna and Indrajit

This is a good place if you are looking spend some quality time interacting with your friends. You might probably find yourself in an interesting discussion on food and travel. I had a lovely evening with fellow bloggers - Debjani di of kitchenofdebjani.com, Indrajit Da of https://mohamushkil.wordpress.com/ and Devpurna of https://bitechompgulp.com/ - full of gossip, laughter and of course food :)

P.S : I was invited to the launch party; honest views :)

Zomato's First Masterclass in Kolkata at SpiceKraft

Zomato recently invited some of us ladies for its 1st masterclass in Kolkata - a mixology workshop at Spice Kraft on the occasion of International Women's Day.

After a hectic day at work and a little bit of pampering from the men in office, I was really looking forward to the evening as it was my first Zomato meet up experience. What's better was that I was invited to their first ever Zomato Masterclass in Kolkata :) A big thank you to the team for this. 

Though I came in late after work,I was greeted by an ever welcoming Zomato team and the hospitable staff of Spice Kraft. Chef Sambit Banick, Head chef of Spice Kraft was already at work by then. Chef,who holds an MBA degree from XLRI,had his table set up to show all the ladies in the house how to make the perfect coktails.

We were served the mulled wine, a warm spiced red wine which is a European favourite during the winters.Chef informed us that by simmering the wine on low heat with spices, citrus fruits and honey, the alcohol content of the wine decreases but is perfect for those chilly winter evenings.

Mulled wine

Next was the Classic Cosmopolitan, a ladies favourite which could not have been missed out in a room full of beautiful ladies ;) Chef showed us how to put together the perfect glass of cosmo with the help of a cocktail shaker, an absolute must when making cocktails.On the table next,was Utterly Butterly Jameson, a concoction of peanut butter, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Amul cream and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. A cocktail with chocolate was new to me :)

The next cocktail used a handheld smoking gun. It was the Apple Wood Smoked Guava Mary which is a molecular gastronomy delight. 

Utterly Butterly Jameson

A big thank you to Devlina of http://blongshong.com/ for the picture

Along with these lovely cocktails were some extremely delicious appetizers. There was the Kele ke phool ke croque monsieur, Subj ki Galawat, Vietnamese  Khao Tay Potatoes, Lebanese Dajaj Chermoula, Beer Can Temoura Fish. 

My favourite was the Lebanese Dajaj Chermoula, a lovely chermoula spiced grilled chicken, which is also extremely healthy. You have to visit Spice Kraft to try this one out ! Amongst the drinks, mulled wine was the absolute winner :) 

Lebanese Dajaj Chermoula

Zomato Masterclass in Spice Kraft, Kolkata

Chef Sambit Banick of Spice Kraft

Zomato Mixology Masterclass at Spice Kraft

Review of the newest Pan Asian gallery in town - Stud!o at Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences

Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences, has recently come up with yet another interesting offering - Its Pan Asian Gallery - Stud!o. Yes, that's how they choose to describe it ! Because it offers much more than just food.

The newest Pan Asian Restaurant in town offers live music, art exhibitions and so much more while serving the best of Pan Asian Cuisine to the guests. The best part is the chic decor of the place. The outlet plays with natural and artificial lights in the most efficient way, with light reflecting through the steel sheets in the ceilings and the prismatic kitchen. The prismatic kitchen offers a sneak peak of all the action in the kitchen. Overlooking the beautiful poolside of the property, the Stud!o is elegant in its own unique way.

Stud!o offers a lot more than just the regular dumplings, Thai curries and noodles.You will start seeing the Pan Asian cuisines in a new light once you go through their menu. This time, I sampled the vegetarian offerings of Stud!o. A hardcore non-vegetarian since childhood and a fussy eater than I am, I have always been extremely picky with vegetables. However, Chef  Neelabh assured us that we will love it :P

What was on the menu?

Thai Spiced vegetables

We started our meal with Thai Spiced vegetables and kakiage tempura(a deep fried Japanese delicacy) . I loved the appetizers. With the right amount of flavour and spice, they were just perfect. Further, we moved on to the vegetable baoji and the water chestnut and chive dumpling. Baoji's outer coating had an interesting mix of flour and sesame seeds but the dumpling emerged as the winner. I had never thought that a dumpling with no meat in it could taste so good :D

Vegetable Baoji ; Water Chestnut and chive dumplings

From the sushis, there was the cucumber and pickled radish maki after which came the Udon noodle broth with sesame seeds.Udon is wheat noodles and is the Japnese noodle soup. It was too sour for my taste though.

Cucumber and pickled radish maki

Udon Noodle Broth

As for the main course spread, I loved the jasmine rice and the Thai green curry, both rich in their own distinct flavours. The chilli garlic noodles too was quite a favourite.

Chilli Garlic Noodles

Jasmine Rice and Thai green curry

The dessert offerings at Novotel Kolkata is something that I always look forward to whenever I am eating at Novotel and they impress me every single time with their unique offerings. This time I had Tab Tim Samsee, a coconut flavoured dessert with water chestnuts. Next on offer was a sweet dish made with poached pears with galangal(thai ginger), mascarpone cream and chocolate soil. This one was a surprise for me as the usage of pear for this was new to me.

Galangal Poached pears, mascarpone cream, chocolate soil

Overall, the food was good. The ambiance of the place is the best thing about Stud!o and is something to look out for. The experience of dining at Stud!o is sure to remain with you for a long time.