Kolkata: The Best City in India for Food
Of all the great food cities in India, Kolkata stands apart. The sweets alone justify the trip. And then there is the biryani, the bhars, and nolen gur in winter.
When we talk about great food cities in India, the usual list comes up: Delhi, Amritsar, Lucknow, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata. I would personally add Bangalore and Jodhpur to that list too.
But Kolkata stands apart.
Kolkata is, in my opinion, the best city in India for food. And especially for sweets. No other city in India has the same depth and variety of sweets, and no other city treats them with the same seriousness.
The Winter Advantage
The winters in Kolkata also stand out for me. They give relief from the city's usual humidity, and the cold is pleasant rather than brutal: nothing like Delhi or the north-west in January.
But the best part of Kolkata's winter isn't the weather. It's nolen gur.
Nolen gur is the new season's date palm jaggery, available only from around November to February. Harvested fresh, it has a distinct, gentle sweetness unlike any other jaggery. It makes every sweet it touches better. Mishti doi, sandesh, and roshogolla made with nolen gur are different dishes from what you eat the rest of the year.
Three Things Unique to Kolkata
Nolen gur: The seasonal date palm jaggery that defines Kolkata's winter sweets. If you visit between November and February, eat as much of it as you can.
Kolkata biryani: Specifically, the aloo inside it. Each portion comes with a potato, and it absorbs the flavour of the whole biryani in a way that has to be eaten to be understood. I used to be sceptical. Then I went to Arsalan. The aloo changed my mind completely.
Bhars: The smallest chai cups I have seen anywhere in India. These tiny clay cups are Kolkata's chai vessels, barely a sip each. But every neighbourhood has a stall, and people keep coming back throughout the day. It's not a habit. It's the city.
The two places I go back to every time I am in Kolkata, both near Park Circus:
- Arsalan, Park Circus: where the biryani aloo changed the way I think about biryani
- Jugal's, Park Circus: where the baked chom chom became the best Indian sweet I have ever had
Keep Reading
Arsalan, Park Circus, Kolkata
How Kolkata biryani with aloo changed the way I think about biryani. The aloo alone is worth the trip to Arsalan, Park Circus.
Jugal's, Park Circus, Kolkata
The sweet shop next to Arsalan. The baked chom chom with cream inside is the best Indian sweet I have ever had. I went back for seconds, mid-meal.
The Culture of Chai in Kolkata
The city of joy runs on bhars, small clay cups of thin, strong chai sold at every corner. In Kolkata, chai is not a habit. It is the city itself.