New Bengali eatery in Lokhandwala serves excellent authentic cuisine

Morichbata Begun Ilish

Any fool will tell you that we Bengalis have a long-standing love affair with fish. Outside of roshogollas, maachh-bhaat is what typifies our cuisine. And this love affair is no casual flirtation either. It's a lifelong commitment that starts with the market and ends at the table. But there's a problem that Bengalis face in Mumbai. There is a comparative lack of river fish in the city. So unless it's the market in Chembur, your fishmonger's options are usually restricted to catch from the Arabian Sea. And that's something that the proprietors of Rajbari Rasoi, a new Bengali restaurant in Lokhandwala, didn't take into account when they designed their menu. For, they included freshwater staples like boyal, koi and topshe, without realising that sourcing the same here would be as difficult as finding a vada pav on Kolkata's streets.

But let that not take away from the outstanding job they have otherwise done of recreating the food of zamindari Bengali families. Even the ambience is such that you feel like you've walked into a rich man's home in North Kolkata, which has an air of old-world regality about it. Green wood-panelled windows, hand-held palm leaf fans hung on the walls and large metal thalis are all testament to a careful attention to detail. And though the menu is indeed over-ambitious, the kurta-clad manager informs us that it will soon be trimmed.

Mochar Ghonto. Pics/Sneha Kharabe

Nonetheless, given what we have, we ask for mochar ghonto (Rs 350) to begin with. It's a dish that serves as a classic example of how underrated vegetarian Bengali cuisine is. It's not all about the maachh-bhaat, really. Take the banana plant for example, the flower of which is called mocha (pronounced "mo-cha", unlike the coffee). Everything - starting from the bark to the flowers to the fruit in both its raw and ripe forms - have dedicated recipes that are cooked regularly in Bengali homes. Ghonto, meanwhile, refers to a particular way of cooking a dish where you stir it constantly and ensure there's no gravy. And as soon as we scoop up the one we are served at this eatery, mixing it with a mouthful of rice, we realise that we've hit upon the real deal.

Satisfied, we turn our attention to the fish we have ordered. Now, if you ever want to find out whether a Bengali person's roots lie in West Bengal or in Bangladesh after the erstwhile state got divided, there is a simple question you can ask - do you prefer prawns or hilsa? If the answer is hilsa, it's most likely that the person is originally from across the border, meaning he's a "Bangaal". And if its prawns, chances are that he's a "Ghoti". That's how serious the subject of fish is. But we order both - chingri malai curry ('395) for the prawns and morichbata diye begun ilish (Rs 400) for the hilsa. The latter is a peppery curry with a rich maroon colour. And the malai curry is a coconut milk-based preparation that is usually made with jumbo prawns, though here, we get a much smaller size. It's still a mean version, however, and sets us up perfectly for the grand finale - mutton dakbungalow.

Mutton Dakbungalow

It's a colonial-era curry that was originally made in rest houses that travellers spent their nights in ("dakbungalow" means rest house). Thick gravy is padded with boiled eggs, potatoes and succulent pieces of mutton, making for a wholesome dish that's getting increasingly forgotten in this day and age. Only a few places even in Kolkata still have it on their menu, so full marks to Rajbari Rasoi for including it on theirs. Plus, the chef managed to balance all the ingredients perfectly.

So it all means, then, that the thousands of Bengalis who have settled in Andheri now have another option for a taste of home. The area already had a clutch of Bengali restaurants before Rajbari Rasoi opened, such as Hangla's, The Calcutta Club and Bhojohori Manna. But all these places will now seriously have to up their game given the new competition. And the good word about the place is bound to spread, because if there's one thing we Bengalis love as much as eating food, it's talking about it.

ON 12 pm to 1 am
AT Suburban Complex, Sterling Tower CHS, Lokhandwala, Andheri West
CALL 30151962

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Rajbari Rasoi didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals