Boda — the new Bengali takeaway in Khar and Powai — serves up some good dishes, but is too inconsistent with the quality. Nor is the food great value for money
Mutton Biryani
The city is suddenly witnessing a Bengali cuisine boom. More outlets from the old guards Oh! Calcutta, Bijoli Grill and Calcutta Club as well as the arrival of the newer brigade such as Hangla’s, Bhojohori Manna, Bong Bong and others. So when a new name heralded its arrival, we were intrigued and decided to test the waters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mutton Biryani
Boda, which opened its first outlet in Khar in November, has just opened a new outlet in Powai.
The person who took our order was knowledgable about the items but confused us when he said we could order the “Bengali versions of Dal Makhani and Paneer Butter Masala”. We stayed clear of such concoctions and ordered a pure Bengali meal.
When the food arrived, we were happy to find that the Mutton Biryani (Rs 299) lived up to our expectations. It is the non-gravy variety that Kolkata boasts of. But a little less use of chillies would have been better. Also, we had ordered the special biryani that claimed to have ‘bigger mutton pieces’ — but the ones we got were small.
The devilled egg and mutton chop (Rs 76 each) was tasty, though the meat that coated the egg was from a curried dish. The Fish chop (Rs 69 each) was by far the best of the lot — hot and spicy, but not too oily. Just the kind you’d get in a Kolkata street stall.
Fish Chop and Mutton-coated devilled eggs
For a vegetarian option, we tried the aloo posto (Rs 119) — potatoes cooked in a poppy seed paste. It was well-cooked but the presence of red chillies in the vegetable meant we could not quite give it the ‘authentic’ tag.
The mutton kosha (Rs 325) was a let-down. A gravy that looks bright orange is scary to begin with, and a heart-clogger for sure. Add to that just a few pieces of mutton, without any of the fat trimmed, and you have a recipe for disaster.
When a meal for two costs over Rs 1,000 for a takeaway option and you are left unfulfilled — both on taste and quantity — no Bengali would say “Bhalo khelam” (I ate well).