Restaurant Review – Café Chourangi’s Calcutta Street Food Fest

Café Chourangi’s newly launched Calcutta Street Food Fest is an ambitious attempt to capture the flavours and nostalgia of one of the world’s great street food cities. Rather than simply reproducing familiar dishes, the menu seeks to reinterpret Kolkata classics for a London
audience while remaining approachable and affordable.

Our table sampled an excellent cross-section of the menu: Puchka, Banana Blossom Croquette, Enoki Mushroom Bhaja, Baked Crab, Lamb Seekh Kebab Roll, Fish Fry, Chilli Chicken, followed by Mango Yoghurt Brûlée and Baked Rosogolla.

The meal began exactly where any Kolkata street food journey should—with Puchka. It was authentic in flavour and immediately transported me back to my school days growing up in Kolkata. The balance of tamarind, spice and freshness captured the essence of one of Bengal’s most iconic snacks. It demonstrated that authenticity doesn’t always require reinvention.

The Banana Blossom Croquette and Enoki Mushroom Bhaja were perhaps the weakest dishes of the afternoon, not because the ideas lacked merit, but because the main ingredients lost their identity.

Banana blossom has a wonderfully earthy, slightly floral flavour that deserves to be celebrated. Unfortunately, the generous potato filling, assertive seasoning and deep frying overwhelmed the delicate character of the blossom. The result was an enjoyable croquette, but one that couldhave been made from almost any vegetable.

The Enoki Mushroom Bhaja presents an equally clever concept. The visual appeal and delicate crunch are excellent, but the fine flavour of the enoki mushroom disappears beneath the batter. A finishing dusting of dehydrated mushroom powder could restore some of that lost umami. Alternatively, embracing a simpler Bengali-style onion or mushroom bhaja would allow the ingredient itself to become the star rather than the coating.

The meal recovered magnificently with the Baked Crab, which was simply outstanding. Beautifully balanced, generous in flavour and expertly executed, it demonstrated both technical precision and confidence in the kitchen.

The Fish Fry was equally impressive. Fried to perfection with a crisp, golden coating protecting beautifully moist fish, it was exactly as this Kolkata institution should be. The accompanying Kasundi provided the ideal sharp, mustardy counterpoint and elevated the dish further.

The chef encouraged us to try the Chilli Chicken, and it proved to be an excellent recommendation. Perfectly cooked with excellent wok character, it struck the right balance between sweetness, spice and acidity, showing why this Indo-Chinese classic remains one of Kolkata’s enduring favourites.

Dessert, however, left me questioning the restaurant’s direction. The Mango Yoghurt Brûlée is a competent dessert and technically well executed. Yet Kolkata
possesses one of the richest dessert traditions in the world. Almost every street has a misti dokan—a sweet shop displaying dozens of handcrafted confections that are deeply woven into Bengali culture. Against that extraordinary backdrop, a brûlée feels disconnected from the story the menu is trying to tell.

The Baked Rosogolla raised a similar question. Rosogolla is already an icon in its original form. Every Bengali has their preferred version and fiercely defends its simplicity. Baking it adds novelty, but not necessarily improvement. A beautifully crafted house-made rosogolla—perhaps with slightly reduced sweetness to suit Western palates—would, in my view, better honour Bengal’s extraordinary confectionery heritage while introducing newcomers to the dessert as it was intended to be enjoyed.

Overall, the Calcutta Street Food Fest succeeds because it approaches Kolkata’s street food with affection rather than gimmickry. At its best, the menu delivers dishes that are instantly recognisable, technically accomplished and deeply nostalgic. Where it occasionally falls short is when creative reinterpretation obscures the very ingredients and traditions that make these dishes so memorable.

For a restaurant introducing London’s diners to the flavours of Kolkata, authenticity is already its greatest strength. It doesn’t always need reinvention. Sometimes the original is the
masterpiece.

https://chourangi.co.uk

By Dev Biswal