Where to Eat in Kolkata

Kolkata's dining culture is defined by its deep Bengali culinary heritage, where food is treated as an art form and meals are leisurely social affairs. The city's signature dishes include kathi rolls (paratha-wrapped street food invented here), machher jhol (fish curry with potatoes), kosha mangsho (slow-cooked mutton), and an unparalleled variety of mishti (Bengali sweets) like rosogolla and sandesh. Colonial British influences blend with traditional Bengali flavors, while the city's Chinese community in Tangra has created unique Indo-Chinese dishes like chilli chicken and Hakka noodles found nowhere else. Today's dining scene balances century-old sweet shops and traditional Bengali eateries with modern cafés and experimental fusion restaurants, though authentic Bengali cuisine remains the heart of Kolkata's food identity.

• Iconic Dining Districts: Park Street serves as the restaurant hub with legacy establishments and modern eateries; College Street's Indian Coffee House and street food stalls feed students and intellectuals; Tangra in East Kolkata is Chinatown with authentic Indo-Chinese cuisine; New Market and Esplanade buzz with street food vendors selling phuchka (pani puri), jhalmuri, and egg rolls; while South Kolkata neighborhoods like Gariahat and Golpark offer traditional Bengali restaurants and sweet shops.
• Must-Try Local Specialties: Start your day with luchi-alur dom (fried bread with spiced potatoes) or kochuri-cholar dal (stuffed bread with lentils); try daab chingri (prawns cooked in tender coconut) and bhapa ilish (steamed hilsa fish) during monsoon season (July-September); sample street food like kathi rolls from evening vendors, ghugni-chaat, and telebhaja (assorted fritters); end meals with mishti doi (sweet yogurt), and visit sweet shops for fresh rosogolla, chomchom, and seasonal notun gurer sandesh (date palm jaggery sweets available November-February).
• Price Ranges and Value: Street food costs ₹20-100 per item, with a full phuchka serving at ₹30-50 and kathi rolls at ₹60-150; traditional Bengali thalis (complete meals) range ₹150-400 at local eateries; mid-range restaurants charge ₹400-800 per person for full meals; upscale dining costs ₹1,200-2,500 per person; sweet shops sell mishti by weight at ₹400-800 per kilogram, with individual pieces at ₹15-50.
• Seasonal Dining Highlights: Monsoon months (June-September) bring ilish (hilsa fish) season when this prized fish dominates menus in preparations like ilish bhapa and shorshe ilish; winter (November-February) offers notun gurer mishti (sweets made with fresh date palm jaggery) and pithas (traditional rice cakes); Durga Puja (September-October) features elaborate bhog (temple food offerings) and special festive meals; summer brings aam (mango) desserts and cooling dishes like dahi-bhaat (yogurt rice).
• Unique Kolkata Dining Experiences: Join adda culture at century-old coffee houses where people spend hours