Co-founders Prabir Chattopadhyay and Biswajit Deb Das will launch Little Kolkata on Shelton Street in June, serving Bengali, Bangladeshi and Calcuttan dishes alongside an Indian-influenced cocktail menu.
Dishes, inspired by the founders upbringings in Bangladesh and Calcutta, will include sharing plates ranging from £5 to £13.50 in price such as a ‘maacher’ cod fish cutlet served with Calcuttan mustard sauce; ‘lilish maacher deemer’, which is a type of spiced fish roe that is popular in Bengali cuisine; chicken livers sautéed with spice and chillies; and homemade truffle paratha.
Little Kolkata will serve traditional desserts such as mishit doi (a type of baked yoghurt); as well as twists on British sweets such as a cardamom coffee brownie with rose ice-cream.
Drinks include a saffron spritz; and an ‘Indian Summer Garden’ made with jasmine vodka.
Interiors by French designer Meddhi Larouci will be relaxed with elements of “quirky decadence” from Calcutta, mixing traditional and modern elements of the city. A private dining room will be available for hire.
Little Kolkata has been running supperclubs since early 2017, the most recent of which was held in April at Davys Wine Bar in Holborn. All of the company’s central London events sold out.
Elsewhere in the market for Bengali-inspired cuisine, Asma Khan, founder of the Darjeeling Express Indian restaurant, has recently launched a sister restaurant, Calcutta Canteen, at Fulham’s new Market Halls development. It specialises in the street food of the Bengali city serving the likes of kati rolls; Tangra prawns; and phulki lentil fritters.