Being a food blogger and primarily a reviewer, we are quite used to the idea of reviewing places and basically sharing our experiences with our friends and reader base. Frankly, nothing new lies in that. Even in a city like Kolkata, we experience food walks (we should take advantage of the city’s varied food scenario- right?!) on a regular basis. But, this time, the offer was something new and exciting.
A food walk aimed towards enjoying food as it should be tasted- without the fear of tooth sensitivity. Now, this was something new curated by So Kolkata for Sensodyne, the biggie of the toothpaste industry.
So, basically, a few chosen people with tooth sensitivity who had been using Sensodyne regularly and had benefitted from it would be a part of this food walk, along with a few chosen bloggers.
This was to be carried out in the heart of the city, Park Street! And so, we visited 3 of the city’s gastronomic landmarks- Flurys (needs no introduction!), Cha Bar (Oxford Bookstore)- the store serving probably the maximum varieties of tea in town and the new-age gastro pub The Bodega Cantina Y Bar.
Here’s our experience of it:
Flurys
We were asked to gather at the legendary Flurys on Monday morning and frankly, this place never fails to amaze me with its magical old world charm, especially of the old Calcutta (yes, not Kolkata). The place still runs with its old fashioned menu items, the English breakfast, a good variety of tea (served properly) and those to-die-for shakes and pastries.
We started off with the Viennese Coffee (a single espresso with a dollop of whipped cream) and a Tuna Sandwich. And upon the request from the management, The Double Chocolate Sundae was presented before us. Now, this one is a giant (let me tell you this upfront). Chocolate and vanilla icecream with chocolate sauce and cream is never a mean feat. However, even with the hot and extremely chilly food items, the tooth sufferers enjoyed the same no less than us, without facing any pain!
Cha Bar
The second spot was Cha Bar and this place is a book lover’s paradise with an
entire floor covering books and only books! The first floor, on the other hand, is dedicated to tea and food to go with. When one enters for the first time, the interiors will stun you! The walls are done in red and white and is designed with lots of interesting graffiti concerning the tea-tasting culture.
Apart from at least 40 varieties, maybe even more, of tea, they make a good variety of sandwiches also. However, after the previous encounter, we preferred to have only tea and here, my preference is always their Masala Tea (basically the strong concoction of tea, milk, sugar, ginger, garam masala and what not). And, I had that. It was the choice for most of the sufferers too, who frankly didn’t find any uneasiness in gulping it down whilst chatting away happily!
Bodega Cantina Y Bar
The last and final place was The Bodega Cantina Y Bar. Bodega is basically a lounge with special attention paid to their cocktail menu and with a fancy food menu. I must say, the presentation was fantastic for their cocktails, slightly quirky in certain cases!
We tucked into the Bodega Caesar Salad, one of their specialty and extremely popular items. We were almost full, all of us and needed something to cool us down in the paltry sweaty weather. And the Gandharaj Mojito was on its way! It was extremely chilled and refreshing and the best part was that all the tooth sufferers thoroughly enjoyed it without even batting an eyelid !!!
Ceasar Salad
While clicking …
The walk was almost over. We were satiated, with great food and of course with those hours of non-stop chatting! What more can one ask for?! You can watch the video right here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cK1kUo_guY
So Kolkata is the official Instagram account for the Kolkata Chapter of So City (http://www.so.city). Currently live for Delhi NCR and coming soon to your city! You can download the app on http://www.so.city/app
I can be reached at 9903528225 / indrajit.lahiri@ymail.com
