The team behind Little Kolkata are delighted to announce the launch of their first restaurant, now open on Shelton Street.
The new addition to Covent Garden’s diverse dining scene celebrates everything that guests have come to love about the original sell-out supper clubs, whilst welcoming a more extensive Calcuttan menu, cocktail list and exclusive themed evenings.
Co-founders Prabir Chattopadhyay and Biswajit Deb Das have centred Little Kolkata on authentic Bengali cuisine, inspired particularly by Prabir’s upbringing in Calcutta and Biswajit’s ancestral roots in Bangladesh. After moving to Britain in 2006, Prabir found himself longing for the taste of home and started cooking familiar dishes using his favourite traditional spices and ingredients. His fellow British-based Calcuttans soon joined to enjoy his Bengali-style feasts, and from here the supper clubs were born. Little Kolkata proved a great success, with all the supper clubs fully booked.
Typical dishes on the menu include sharing plates of Maacher chop (£7.50), a codfish cutlet served with the typical Calcuttan mustard sauce Kashundi, and Lilish Maacher Deem Bhaja (£9.50), a spiced fish egg from the Hilsa, a very popular fish with Bengalis. There are also speciality dishes, such as Chicken liver sautéed with generous amounts of spice and fresh chillies, which can be accompanied by Home-made truffle porota, full of fragrance and bold textures.
The menu maintains the communal and familial nature of the supper clubs, featuring sharing plates throughout ranging in price from £5.00 – £13.50, alongside flavoursome side dishes, priced from £2.50 – £5.00. Traditional concepts follow in the dessert menu, such as the Calcutta Mishti Doi (£3.50), a baked sweet yoghurt, and the Cardamom coffee brownie with butterscotch ice-cream (£4.50), which has been inspired by the famous Swiss patisserie in Calcutta, Flury’s.
The contemporary yet classic style continues into the signature cocktail menu. For example, the use of saffron in the Saffron Spritz (£9) pays homage to the use of the ingredient in Indian cookery for centuries. Little Kolkata will also serve Golap Martini, with vodka, lichi liquor, rose water, lime juice and cranberry juice (£9).
Created by French designer Meddhi Larouci, the interiors at Little Kolkata form a comfortable and relaxed environment for customers to enjoy the traditional Bengali-style food for either lunch or dinner. The design is inspired by the diverse culture and quirky decadence that sits at the roots of Calcutta, honouring both the traditional and modern sides of the city. There is also a private dining room, which as well as being available for exclusive hire also offers lively and unique themed evenings for guests to join.
Bringing a slice of Calcutta to Covent Garden, Little Kolkata is a welcome addition to the West End’s ever-thriving food, arts and music scene.