A search for Bengali cuisine in Bangalore will throw up around 10-12 restaurants, and a handful of them actually serve authentic Bengali cuisine. Enter Esplanade, its name derived from a place in Calcutta, now Kolkata, which means ‘by the water’. It is a quiet restaurant at Indiranagar serving authentic Bengali cuisine.You enter and you are greeted by a chandelier hanging from the first floor along with some old pictures alongside the stairs. The restaurant is on the 1st floor, decorated well with rustic artifacts and quaint and subtle furniture. With paintings of Old Calcutta adorning the walls, the ambiance is pleasant.
I got to know about this place thanks to Poshvine, which gives you a decent 20% discount on your bill if you book via their website. So I did that and boy was I delighted! After being disappointed with Bengali cuisine at different restaurants for quite some time, this was a pleasant surprise. We were greeted by the front staff and quickly given our seats, seating is comfortable and neat. We chose the seating next to the windows along the road for a decent peek whilst having our meal.The menu is simple and minimal; all the dishes are named in Bengali with English translation of the same.If you have any trouble deciding what to have, the waiters are kind enough to explain the dish to you. Since we went there on a hot summer evening we wanted something cool to quench our thirst and the ‘Ampora Sharbat’ was the perfect choice – Roasted mango pulp drink with a bitter-sour-sweet taste which was perfect! We had one and split it into two, since the consistency of the sharbat was thick and could do with some dilution.
For appetizers we ordered ‘Kasundi murgi’ , ‘Mangsher chops’ and ‘Postor Bora ‘ . Kasundi murgi a beautiful amalgamation of raw mango, mustard, spices and boneless chicken pieces wrapped gently in lotus leaves/banana leaves making it succulent and lip smacking. The spices are married to perfection, the sourness of the raw mango and the heat from the mustard is just right, to give you a kick at the back of your palate. Coming to Mangsher Chops, these are delicately fried mutton croquettes which are served with mustard sauce. Nothing fancy is this, it’s just cooked well and leaves you asking for more. Postor Bora on the other hand is a vegetarian dish made from poppy seeds mashed to make balls and fried well to a golden brown colour.
We were really looking forward to the main course, and after a lot of thought process we chose Bhetki Sorshe and Daab Chingri with steamed rice. Bhetki is basically Barramundi/Asian Bass, also known as Chonak in Goa. This delicate fish which was marinated well with mustard sauce was a clincher. The fillets were soft and succulent and went perfectly well with the rice. Daab Chingri, which is prawns cooked in coconut shells, was a little bland and the prawns did not taste all that fresh; possibly overcooked. In any case, it was easily overshadowed by Bhetki Sorshe.
And finally to my favorite part of the meal, Desserts!!! We flipped the menu and the first thing that caught my eye was ‘Mishti Doi’ and ‘Rosogollar Payesh’. We ordered both of them. Mishti Doi tasted homemade, without a tinge of sourness to it and aromatic with cardamom. Rosogolla were well submerged in cold rabadi with a beautiful aroma, just the perfect dish to end the meal.Coming to this restaurant has made me realize how beautiful and mouth-watering Bengali cuisine is. This underrated restaurant needs more hype!
Verdict:
Food and Drinks: 7/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Staff and Service: 7/10
Price per Person: Rs. 300-400
Pros: Lip smacking Bengali cuisine, affordable.
Cons: Inactive social media presence, drinks menu needs more options.
How to get there: Getting here is easy, it’s very near to the Metro. Take a left from the KFC signal (coming from Domlur) and head straight down till you spot Matteo on your right. Take a right and the third building is Esplanade.
Exact Address: 203, Indiranagar Double Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore
Google Maps : http://tinyurl.com/kdge43c
Contact no. : 080 4092 7878
To wrap up, if you’re considering a Bengali meal and you have not tried Esplanade, you’re missing out on a lot.
Esplande uss bala ka naam hain jo ‘Oh! calcutta’ ko kacchha chaba jaye… Aur dakaar bhi na le!
A Taste or Two 
Scribbles a mental note, sounds like a brilliant place 🙂
You should definitely try going here! It’s a really nice place 🙂
Excellent read. Recently, I had been to Kolkata and was mesmerized by the city on first appearance. I have posted a picture gallery at The Kaleidoscope. It would be great if you can look into the picture gallery and comment on the way I captured Kolkata. The link to gallery is : http://krayush.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/kolkata-chromosomes-a-picture-gallery-to-the-fascinating-colors-of-the-city/