i had been in ranchi for over a week and was tired of the rich hotel food. i wanted soul food. being a bengali that generally means mach bhaat and dal to me. thanks to zomato, i think i hit gold when i accidentally stumbled on this post about the new india hotel serving bengali cuisine.
though the entrance of the place looks shady from outside and is quite literally through a dark dingy lane, you will forgive the restaurant for this once as soon as you take your first dig at their food. as soon as you enter, there is long climb till the third floor for the dining area. the ambiance of the building is that of an old north kolkata house with red oxide floors and wooden window shutters. this already preps you up for a good bengali experience.
i happened to go for lunch to this place andorderedthe famed mutton curry and rice and oh boy, i was totally blown away, both by taste, quantity and time of service. the place was literally crawling with people and still my order was served in under 5 minutes. i was served with a mounting pile of rice, a dash of lemon, chilies and mutton curry. there were 4 large, succulent pieces, and they seem to maintain the standard across all the servings of mutton. no one gets an unfair share. they do have a platter of fish and vegetarian dishes, but they seem to be very limited and get out of stock quite literally within an hour and a half of the restaurant's start time.
as i was exiting from the restaurant, i happened to notice a lady over 60 years old in kitchen. upon asking a few waiters around, i discovered that the delicious mutton curry is prepared according to her recipe and she personally supervises the mutton preparation to ensure there is absolutely no compromise in quality and she has been doing this right from the day the hotel was inaugurated to now. now that's some commitment to quality.
i am super impressed!