Abcos Food Plaza introduces the Sunday Brunch

Anindya- Did you know that Amrita’s father owns a restaurant?

Madhushree- What? Seriously? Wow! What’s the name of the restaurant?

Anindya- It’s called Abcos. Abcos Food Plaza!

Madhushree- Abcos? What kind of a restaurant name is Abcos?

We have always loved meeting new people and Amrita has been our friend for a past year or so, primarily due to blogging. She is a renowned travel blogger with several feathers to her cap. And historically we love people in the food business (I guess it stirs up too many memories, good and bad, wrt our failed restaurant business). So when we heard that this girl whom we knew for the past year had a secret up her sleeve, we were pleasantly surprised. Well, she makes it a point to let you know that it is not her restaurant but her father’s and she is just helping him out.

Coming to the name, Abcos sounds like weird name for a restaurant. Apparently, it is a combination of names of two people who had started the business (quite a cliché in the yesteryears). And to top it all, it has been in business since 2001. On mentioning about it to people in general over the next couple of days, many seem to know about it. Well, especially those of who have been working or living around Salt Lake area have sometime or other in the last decade have gone there and almost all of them have had their signature ‘Elaichi Raan’.

So, on a beautiful sunny (and somewhat cool) Sunday, we were on our way to Abcos Food Plaza for their brunch on an invite from Amrita. Anindya had been there before, but for me, I went with no expectation and an open mind. We were standing in front of a four story building with large golden decorated gate in an Oriental style. Thats Abcos Food Plaza. Each floor had a different name of a restaurant- O Calcutta, Kipling’s Klub, Pen & Ink and Dalhousie Celebration on roof top. Originally they had started with a different cuisine at each of the restaurant, but over the years, people sitting at one restaurant would sometime start ordering something from another restaurant. Eventually they decided to merge the cuisines and today, they serve everything on every floor. Amrita informed us that they serve Bengali, North Indian (including tandoor), Oriental and continental cuisine.

As we climbed up the stairs (they do have a lift), I was taken aback pleasantly by the old world charm the place had. Shiny marble stairs with golden brass planters lined up, dark wooden hand rails; everything was taking me back to the past. And finally when we reached the roof top, I was in a happy place. There was plenty of greenery around with a small fountain of sorts, a tandoor area and tables and chairs laid out. We were late and Debjani was already seated. After finishing up with the pleasantries, we sat down and made ourselves comfortable. I was missing my son since this would have been a perfect place for him too, with lots of space to run around and do whatever he wished without getting bored and wanting to sit only with the condition of my mobile and you tube.

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata sitting arrangement

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata outdoors

We started with the drinks which were especially curated for the winter brunch. We did try all of them; however I was especially impressed with the mulled wine. So much that I decided to do on my own for my Christmas Eve party. It was a red mulled wine, lightly spiced, warm and just perfect for that time. Smirnoff Winter Hall, which was quite a refreshing tropical drink, had a beautiful flavour from curry leaves. I must say it is a must try.

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata the nulled wine

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata cocktail

The brunch is not a laid out buffet but is served at the table. The menu is broken down in two parts- continental and Indian. Each section has several options from which to choose from. The quantity is unlimited. However, I did notice that each portion of whatever we had ordered was more than sufficient for one person, perhaps a little too large also. The food varies from chilli cheese toast or akuri on toast  to egg/veggie or chicken roll, luchi aloo dum or kosha mangsho , pav bhaji, various kulchas with chole, nilgiri korma with pulao and gulab jamun or gajar ka halwa in the Indian section. The continental section has options of fresh fruits, toast, eggs etc, moving on to sausages, grilled veggies, sandwiches & pastas (both with several sub options), chicken and vegetable stroganoff and finishing off with our favourite crème caramel.

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata 3

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata sausages

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata ilaichi raan 2

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata luchi and kosha mangsho

Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata 1
Abcos Food Plaza Kolkata the dessert

I just noticed that I have already written beyond my permissible limit and without going too much into the description of all that we had,we really did enjoy the brunch. The highlight for me were the sausages (which were quite smoky, enough to tantalise my taste buds) and chilli cheese toast (again cheesy enough with a hint of green chilli flavour). The chicken stroganoff was light on the palette and was quite flavoursome. It wasn’t heavy and gluggy like they do in many places. The kicker was the desserts and we tried both the gajar ka halwa and crème caramel. Yumm….sort of explains it all. I know that they are quite simple desserts; however many a times at many a place they go wrong with particularly, these two things.

The brunch will available only on Sundays from 8th Jan 2017 onwards. It is very comfortably priced at Rs. 399 for veg and Rs. 499 for non veg plus taxes. This price also includes 2 beers of 330 ml or 2 non alcoholic beverages. We had a great time, especially in an open air setting in the winter. Why don’t you try it out too?

P.S. We did request for an elaichi raan and believe me when I say it- it is a divine piece of meat broken down in smaller portions. The meat was tender, all the flavours were seared in and had a mild charring on the outside. There was an incredible richness and depth of flavour and underneath came a whole serving of rice fried with onions and other spices.

Abcos food plaza is located at Salt Lake at this address –

IB-172, Behind Columbia Asia Hospital,

Salt lake, sector 2, Kolkata

Salt Lake City, West Bengal, India

Phone 033 2335 8359