The Leela Ambiance Convention Hotel keeps giving pleasant surprises to its guests all over the globe with innovative festivals. While I was invited for Barbeque festival last time, this time I enjoyed culinary delicacies from Kolkata at the restaurant Dilli 32 of the hotel .  A Grand Trunk journey that started from Amritsar , made stops at Old Delhi and Banaras was supposed to end with delicacies from Kolkata this April. The food festival celebrates cuisines across the NH1 (Grand Trunk Road) in India bringing traditional dishes from cities that are on NH1.

Grand Trunk Culinary Journey ends at Kolkata

To be able to savour , experience, prepare and delight his guests with satiating dishes from Kolkata,  Chef De Cuisine Ashwani Kumar Singh travelled to Kolkata himself to unearth its hidden gourmet treasures.

Ambiance

The whole ambiance at the restaurant was radiating Bengali touch. While ladies were in Bengali saree and make up, men serving staff wore dhoti, Kurta along with gamchha. Background Bengali music was resonating with food and ambiance. I was liking the whole experience.

Restaurant

The whole setup to provide the feel of Kolkata was done up outside. Since it was quite hot that day we dined in the restaurant. However the setting outside was wonderful with seating arrangement done in Kolkata style , howrah bridge and more.

Howrah bridge set up in open( Photo by The Leela Ambiance Convention Hotel)

Seating Kolkata way (Photo by The Leela Ambiance Convention Hotel)

Kolkata delicacies

I had Bengali food for the first time in my life. Every byte I had was sumptuous and satiating. First of all I had Jhal Muri and Gondhoraj Ghol. It was a Bengali bhel puri namkeen with onions, tomatoes, coriander, chillies along with mango pickle oil. My mouth waters as I write about it. I found Gondhoraj ghol very unique which had Gondhoraj (lime variety) juice in sweet buttermilk. It was delicious.

Gondhoraj Ghol and Jhal Muri

Then I had Mochar cutlet which was fried raw banana. Vegetable chop had potatoes, beetroot and peanuts a healthy and tasty combination. I loved the crispiness

Vegetable chops

Aalo chops, had perfect blend of spices. Potatoes, garlic, cloves along with gram flour were fried. There was a bit of China dal in it to give the taste.

Chholar dal was lipsmacking as I savoured it. There was a tinch of coconut which provided it a unique taste. I am surely going to try it at home. A very interesting combination. Began bhaja was deep fried brinjal with spices.

Desserts were irresistible- Payesh, Pantua, Sandesh( my favourite) and another delicacy which is another all time preference mishti doi.

Desserts

I did not miss non vegetarian food while having lunch!

Service

Service was impeccable by well trained and courteous staff.

Overall, a great experience, a highly recommended festival to experience delicious delicacies of Kolkata. Trust me when I say that this kind of food has led me to think about my travel to Kolkata.

To amplify this experience the food festival would also play host to exclusive story-telling sessions on weekends. The festival is there till 16 th of April.

Nidhi KM

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