Overview
- Signature Dishes: Shorshe Maach (Fish in mustard sauce)
- Opening Times & Days: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm & 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm, daily
- Address: 19 Rani Rashmoni Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- Contact: N/A
- Reservation: No
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Summary
Sidheshwari Ashram is a hidden gem in the Bengali restaurant scene in Kolkata. Located in the Sudder Street area, this tiny little first floor restaurant in Kolkata is packed with locals during lunchtime for their pre-prepared traditional Bengali dishes. Not only is the food delicious, the prices are ridiculously cheap that you can eat like a king here.
Restaurant in Kolkata: Sidheshwari Ashram
Sidheshwari Ashram is a hidden gem in the Bengali restaurant scene in Kolkata. Located in the Sudder Street area, this tiny little first floor restaurant in Kolkata is packed with locals during lunchtime for their pre-prepared traditional Bengali dishes. Not only is the food delicious, the prices are ridiculously cheap that you can eat like a king here.
This is a ‘no-frills’ restaurant where the main focus is to serve as many people as much food as possible in the tiny space of the restaurant. Expect to wait for a table as this eatery is always packed with people, both eating in and doing ‘take-away’ during the lunchtime rush. When you do get a table, the food comes out so quickly that you barely have time to wash your hands. While it’s customary to eat with your hands, they can provide cutlery if you ask for it; however, eating with your hands is part of the culinary experience.
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If you take a peek into the kitchen, it is filled with pre-prepared dishes which are ready to be served to the hungry patrons waiting for their lunch. Several dozen plates of fish and chicken are lined up on the kitchen bench so expect your meal to be served immediately.
There are several workers here who are busy taking orders and bringing out the meals as quickly as they can. They seem to be run off their feet with the quick turnover of diners at the restaurant. Service is prompt here, and as soon as you’re seated, your order will be taken and your meal brought our in a matter of minutes.
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There are more than a dozen cats that sit on the roof across from the restaurant. I like to think of them as ‘cats on a hot tin roof’ but these cats are patiently waiting for any morsels of food (particularly fish bones) that come their way from the restaurant.
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As soon as you walk up to the first floor restaurant, a black board menu greets you with a list of Bengali dishes. While there is an array of vegetable, chicken and mutton dishes on the menu, this restaurant in Kolkata specialises in fish dishes. There are several varieties of fish available, all of which are local to the Bay of Bengal waters.
If you’re unsure of what to order, just ask the waiting staff for some recommendations as they know what the popular and tasty dishes are. Some of them even speak English so communication can be relatively easy.
On our first visit, we ordered Rice with Special Dal, Aloo Posto, Chingri Sabji and Shorshe Maach.
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The best dish on this plate was the Chingri Sabji which is shrimps with vegetables. This dish was actually recommended by the waiting staff who took our order, so a special thank you to him. Although small, these shrimps had so much flavour in them and, cooked with the vegetables, tasted really good. The spices were mild but enough to bring the dish together and add extra flavour to the shrimps and vegetables. This is a dish that everyone must try at Sidheshwari Ashram.
The Special Dal is a Bengali version of dal which has a pinch of sugar added to it which gives the dal a totally different flavour. You can add some lime to the dal which will make it taste even better as the sugar, salt and lime combination works really well.
Aloo Posto is a Bengali dish made from potatoes cooked in poppy seeds. This is one of my favourite Bengali vegetarian dishes as the poppy seeds go really well with the fried potato making this a delicious dish if cooked properly. The Aloo Posto here was a bit overcooked and there could have been more poppy seeds in the dish.
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Fish is what this restaurant in Kolkata does really well and the Shorshe Maach was the highlight of our meal. This is a local fish cooked in a mustard sauce with a bit of spices. The fish was cooked perfectly in the mustard sauce and the flavour of the fish was strong and beautiful. The mustard sauce had a delicate flavour and went perfectly with the fish and rice.
Since the fish served here is fairly small, care must be taken while eating it as there are many small bones in the fish. Eating with your hands makes it easier to feel the bones which can be removed before eating the fish.
Our first visit to Sidheshwari Ashram was so good that we returned for a second meal before we left Kolkata. This time we ordered Rice with Special Dal, Aloo Bhaja, Chicken Curry and Shorshe Maach (again).
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The best dish from this meal was the Aloo Bhaja which is a dish of slender strips of fried potatoes. These potato strips are so thin that they are really crispy and crunchy. Eaten with rice and dal, it tastes so good.
The Chicken Curry wasn’t spectacular compared to the rest of the meal as it had a lot of bones and the curry sauce was particularly strong on the spices which overpowered the chicken.
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Eating the Shorshe Maach the second time was no different. It was cooked to perfection with the mustard sauce complimenting the strong flavour of the fish. Eaten with fresh steamed rice, I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Anyone visiting Kolkata must have a lunchtime meal at Sidheshwari Ashram. It can be hard to find so look out for the name of the restaurant as you walk along the street. It’s worth waiting for a table here as the wait is not usually long but you will be rewarded with a variety of tasty Bengali specialty dishes at bargain prices.
So, wash your hands, sit down and enjoy a wonderful gastronomical journey!
