'Pet Pujo' While Pandal Hopping in Kolkata's Famous Gariahat Market

The Quint visited South Kolkata's famous Gariahat Market, which is a one stop destination for clothes, jewellery, pandal hopping and food!

All the 'famous' pujos of Kolkata, be it Ekdalia Evergreen, Singhi Park, Mudiali, Ballygunge Cultural are in or around Gariahat.

So if you are Pandal hopping in Gariahat, here are some places you should definitely stop by to snack, for lunch, for dinner and basically to give your taste buds a really good time because that's what Pujo is all about.

Here are our recommendations for the top places in Kolkata, where you should definitely drop by while pandal hopping.

Sanskar Cabin: Your stop for all sorts of fried food goodness.

It is one of the oldest snack shops in Gariahat, a small snack shop in Gariahat, very close to Golpark. And even though they're known for their butter fries, their fish fries and all of that, their boneless chicken pakora is everyone's hot favourite. It is beautifully dipped in very crispy batter and filled to the brim with chicken meat.

This two generations-old shop has been feeding fried to the foodies for 40 years now.

There are many shops here. But the thing is, here you get good food at a low price. and more importantly, this is an old shop. So there's a sort of goodwill.

Ramakrishna Ghorai, Owner, Sankar Cabin

Their homemade 'kashundi' or mustard sauce makes for the best dip for your pakodas.

Bliss: 'Sasta, Sundar and Tikau'

Bliss offers all sorts of Chinese preparations, from momos, to prawns to gravies and all under 250 bucks. Our recommendation would be the simple Veg Hakka Chowmein, with Kolkata's favourite Chilli Chicken.

The Chilli Chicken is made in a typical Kolkata style, nothing fancy but works wonders.

Bliss sits only 5-6 people at a time, but trust us the wait will be worth it!

Campari: The OG stop for rolls and cutlets

The legendary Campari has been around since the 70s. And it is famous for its mutton cutlet, fish cutlet, chicken cutlet, fish roll and the mutton egg roll. Now, this opens only in the evenings, after 4pm and originally the purpose of Campari, which has now been running for three generations was to give a good filling snacking option to the working class of Kolkata once they come back from work.

Our recommendation is their Paratha Rolls (made with minimum oil) and all things Fish that they offer.

I’m the third generation here. My grandfather opened this place. It literally was a garage where you’re standing right now. We used to park our car here. 1979 it opened. He passed away in the year 2000. My grandmother took over for the next 15 years after that. And I’ve been here for the last 6-7 years.

Aditya Mitra

Aditya's grandfather who started the place used to live in Germany for a chunk of his life and moved to Kolkata after getting married. After working for someone else all his life, he decided to start a business for himself.

He remembered having the schnitzel back in Germany, which is exactly like the cutlet they serve now. Only that is much thinner. They made their own recipe and they started doing it and it just caught on.

New My Club

What one must-try at the New My Club is something very unique to Calcutta. It is a snack that you will not find in many other places. And that is this, the Mughlai Paratha. Its basically fried paratha which is filled with minced meat of any kind, onions, sometimes potato and then deep-fried. And it is usually served with an aloo ki sabzi.

The Mughlai Paratha is said to have originated from the court of Jahangir.

Always end your meals with 'Mishti'

Our recommendation is the massive 'Kheer Kodombo' at Gangurams.

Durga Pujo is all about pandal hopping and eating a lot of food. And as they say, you're not a true Bengali, unless you have a very resilient stomach. So on that note, Shubho Sharodiya, Shobar Pujo Bhalo Katuk.