Date: 27 Jan 2020
Venue: Kolkata

We have written endlessly about biryani – Because we have endless love for biryani. It is surprising how the same dish has evolved in different styles in different parts of the world.  If we look at the micro picture, within the boundaries of India, biryani has evolved in so many different tastes and flavours that at times it is difficult to identify it as the same dish.

Kolkata biryani

We have tasted North Indian biryani at numerous places, Hyderabadi biryani in Delhi and Hyderabad as well as a similar rice dish mandi in Hyderabad.  However it is Kolkata biryani that has won our hearts forever.  Biryani culture in Kolkata goes back to the days of Nawab Wajed Ali Shah. He was exiled from Awadh to Kolkata by the British. Nawab Saab got his chefs and bawarchis along with him to Kolkata. They got the Awadhi style of biryani to Kolkata.  The present day biryani in Kolkata is Awadhi in origin, but peppered with local influences.  It is fragrant and mild and the flavours are of sweet spices like cardamom, aniseed, cinnamon combined with rose water or kewra.  The other embellishments that we have come across only in biryani in Kolkata are the boiled potato and boiled egg. The richness that these elements add to the basic rice – meat combination in biryani has to be tasted to be believed.

We have tried biryani at many places in Kolkata – Shiraz, Arsalan, Amminia to name a few.  During our recent trip we wanted to try a new option.

Royal India Hotel, Chitpur

Royal India Hotel in Chitpur, near Burrabazar, Kolkata has oodles of heritage. They have been serving Mughlai food since early 1900s. Located beside Nakhoda Masjid, Royal is history in the world of biryani. In fact, we have heard people swear by Royal biryani and chaap.  It was therefore high time that we tried it.

Royal India Hotel is located in the northern part of Kolkata. Established in approximately 1905, in its 115^th year, it was still going strong. We walked from Indian Coffee House at College Street, the book market of Kolkata to reach this place. However, this place is far from College Street and some other mode of transport is advisable.  In fact, on the way back, we walked for about 10 minutes and took the metro rail from Central Metro station.

Coming back to Royal, the décor was so last century and we mean that in a good way. They had an open area and some separate cabins on one side. This was so like old Indian cinema in black and white era. We found the décor quaint and exciting. It was time to place our order.

Royal Biryani Kolkata

We finally got to try the oh so famous Royal’s biryani and chaap. Given that biryani was traditionally a red meat dish, we ordered mutton biryani. For some variety in the protein, we ordered chicken chap. To balance the richness of the fare, we ordered a salad on the side.

The whole fare was on our table on about 5 minutes. One could see the vintage of the place – Royal was clearly before food photography era. The light here was not too great and the photos have not come out very well. Nonetheless, we did the mandatory ritual or clicking any way and dug into the biryani.

The biryani here was spicy. Like chilli laden hot. There was no boiled potato either to provide succor to the burning tongue. The serving size was good though and the mutton was well cooked. But the heat of the dish just did not work for us. The chaap, while supremely tasty was spicy again. So it was a double whammy. The chaap really brought ambivalent feelings. It was so tasty that we did not want to stop eating. Yet it was so hot that we could barely eat.  The biryani here was actually very different from the Kolkata style briyani we have had ever before. It was aromatic and the chilli seemed a major mismatch with the sweet fragrance.

We can see, this could work with people who love spicy food though. No wonder, Royal India Hotel in Kolkata has it huge band of loyalists. Many of them were walking in and filling the other tables while we were there. There was enthusiasm loaded expectation written all over their demeanor.  The elan with which they ordered and then savored the biryani – we could see this was bliss for them.

However the biryani at Royal – truth be told – did not work for us. It was overtly spicy and just not what we expect of Kolkata biryani.

Royal Biryani price

Food in Kolkata is affordable. Royal India Hotel’s pricing sort of mid level. It is high but given the quality of ingredients (no complaints on that), the price is justified.

If you are a foodie and have a spicy tongue – Royal India Hotel , Kolkata is your place. Even otherwise, you can walk in for a yesteryear experience and exercise caution while ordering.