Changing Food Trends in Kolkata

The Cultural Capital of India is a heaven for foodies and especially for people with a sweet tooth. Bengali sweets are famous and certainly needs no introduction however; the spicy, tangy and absolutely mouth-watering dishes that Kolkata has to offer will leave you undecided on whether you like the spicy Bengali cuisine more or the melting flavors of the sweetmeats. Taste preferences have been slow to change here partly because people are passionate about their own type of food. Kolkata city has offered an eclectic mix of the best world food which ranges from an authentic Biryani to a spicy Bao.

Lately, there has been a move towards expanding taste horizons as a result of the overall lifestyle changes. As it is the Kolkata skyline has changed there has been a change not only just in eating trends but a new nocturnal animal has come into the city. The penetration levels from a fine dining to a fun fine dining or casual dining has been quite high in 2016. Taking a leaf from this, here is my understanding and take on what might be the best places to dine in 2017.

Considering the socio economic trend the food trends are getting young. As more and more families are getting nuclear, the new formats are getting targeted to the young generation in the age group of 21 years to 30 years who are having maximum amount of disposal income with a believe that life is now!  So this section of the society loves to eat out and party and experiment the new cuisines in town. While the eating habits are more individualistic much dependable on each taste buds as Kolkata is quite conducive to its taste buds, but the forms are changing due to a huge invasion of foreign cuisines.

While, Chinese cuisine which was historically the den of Kolkata continues to be popular, there is a new dimension of Pan Asian that has now come into being with places like Asia Kitchen (by Mainland China). Moreover, the whole are of fine fine dining which continues to be the legacy of Kolkata is slowly getting added by a new concept called fun dining.

Fun dining is all about high energy dining, where people who are both young and young at heart who live for today are going out and painting the city red. The city has become an eclectic mix of international cuisines from Mexican, Italian to Pan Asian and Japanese cuisines with high energy bars and microbreweries being introduced.  However, while the quintessential Bengali foodies continue to believe and love gourmet or exotic food, contrarily today’s generation has slowly transgressed into a fun and high energy dining setup. Some hangout joints and restaurants that is a must visit are:

Love Room Pet Café

What’s in the Name

The Grid

Club Boudoir

Mamagotto

Spice Kraft

Jhaal Farezi

Zucca Lounge

Hoppipola

Country Roads Micro Brewery

Beer Republic

Raize the Bar

The Myx

Bakstage

American Cave

Café Neon

Café Ekante Houseboat Restaurant

Jam House

Considering the magnanimous change in the Kolkata skyline, 2017 will yet again bring in the joy and excitement for this city of joy as they look forward to witness an equal addition of fine and fun dining concepts that will excite the young generation and re define the language and journey of dining.