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| Picture courtesy of Parv |
Hement
Bhagwani, the restauranteur who created the Amaya chain and Indian Street Food,
recently opened a place that’s very different from his last two ventures: The
Kolkata Club, a restaurant that’s influenced by the social clubs established
during the British Raj period in India. Most clubs were exclusively for British
officers and their families; while they would hire Indian citizens to work at
the clubs, the workers weren’t allowed to eat in the dining room.
Then in 1907
the Calcutta Club opened, the first social club whose membership policy didn’t
restrict based on race. Hence, when Hement started the Mississauga restaurant,
he chose to pay homage to the more lenient Calcutta Club. When the British left
India, the 'clubs' remained and was returned to the people, despite there still
being an element of exclusivity. Today, the affluent are favoured. Luckily,
dining at The Kolkata Club, in Mississauga, doesn’t require years on a wait list, a vast family
fortune, or an impressive surname.
Kolkata’s menu
is inspired by the choices found in India, often reinterpreted for the British
palette, with their own twist. It also includes Asian options gleamed from
India’s neighbours such as momos, dumplings popular in Tibet cuisine,
filled with vegetables ($11.50) or chicken ($13.50). With the chicken ones sold
out by 7:45pm, we stuck with the vegetable version. I was worried they’d be
bland against the thick chewy dough,
but the garlic vegetable medley was flavourful enough and works as a lighter
starter. Served with gravy and chili sauce on a sizzling plate, generally found
at chop suey restaurants, the momos developed
a crispy crust and stayed hot.
Catering to
British taste buds does mean dishes don’t incorporate a lot of spice. While my friend
warned the Bengali chingri prawns ($18.50) would likely be spicy, the
use of green chilis was subdued with the main flavours being the curry and a
hit of something tangy. Personally, I would have liked this to be spicier - if
only I stopped the waiter from taking away the chili sauce accompanying the momos, it’d be perfect! Yet, if curries
could be refreshing, this dish fits the bill.
Luckily, we had
an order of pulao ($15.95) and plain naan ($3.25) to soak up every drop
of the sauce from the murg methid Dhabe wala ($15.50), which was
aromatic, flavourful, and rich without being heavy. The menu describes the dish
as being ‘country’ chicken, likely due to it incorporating large pieces of
bone-in dark meat. In my books, this is the best cut for braised chicken – the
bone adds flavour and keeps the meat moist – and I’ve always been partial to
dark meat instead of white. Needless to
say, we finished this dish with gusto.
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| Picture courtesy of Parv |
The chicken
curry went well with the forest mushroom, truffle, and morel pulao ($15.95).
While I couldn’t taste any truffle or morel, there was plenty of white
mushrooms incorporated into the rice and when the bits of fried onion seeped
into curry, they added another depth to the sauce.
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| Picture courtesy of Parv |
While dining at
The Kolkata Club during their first month operating, the kitchen was dealing
with growing pains. Aside from the lack of chicken momos, the British Raj influenced steak roast was also unavailable.
Nonetheless, both dishes require prepping ahead of time, hence stock outs are
somewhat understandable. However, when the kitchen was too busy to make chai,
an after-dinner drink that’s synonymous with Indian cuisine, it was a bit odd.
Surely, even if the tea had to be steeped ahead of time and reheated later,
it’s better than not serving it at all.
A hot aromatic
drink would have gone well with the saffron mango cheesecake ($8.50), a
contrast against the cool light dessert with a pronounced tropical mango taste.
I did enjoy the generous sprinkling of saffron over top, its umami essence
adding an interesting element to the cake.
These
surprising twists are even evident in their cocktails. The aam panna mojito
($12.50) is described as the tangiest cocktail on the list. While still sweet,
the drink is refreshing from the aam panna (or green mango drink) and
well muddled mint. A hit of chaat masala gives the cocktail an almost
savoury finish.
The Kolkata
Club feels different compared to traditional Indian restaurants. Like the
pictured social clubs along the restaurant walls, customers tend to come in
larger groups and many dressed to impress. Dinner was a well-paced leisurely
affair, lasting well over two hours for the three-course event. In the days
where reservations come with two-hour seating limits, this laissez-faire
attitude is a welcomed reminder of the good old days.
Overall mark - 7 out of 10 Disclaimer: The above meal was complimentary. Rest assured, as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide an honest opinion.
How To Find Them
Location: Mississauga, Canada
Address: 488 Eglinton Avenue West
Address: 488 Eglinton Avenue West
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
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