The legend says –
The legend of Rooster Barcelos tells the story of a dead rooster’s miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man, a Galego who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death. In a last minute appeal to the judge, who was having dinner at that time, the condemned man made a bold statement. If his claim to innocence was true, the roasted rooster resting on the judge’s plate would get up and crow. Suddenly the glorious scarlet plumed cockerel rose from plate crowing loud and long. What happened next? Walk in to Barcelos Kolkata and ask for the story of the legend…
It is very very rare that a multinational chain opens up in Kolkata after starting off from Delhi and not going to Bangalore or Mumbai. When we got invited for the launch and bloggers’ meet at this newly opened food outlet, we didn’t have much of an idea, but a brief experience of Nandos in Mumbai and hence the peri peri sauce got us excited.
Barcelos flame grilled chicken which started in Pretoria South Africa in 1993 by founders Costa Mazzis, Johan van Eyk and Beverley Vaskys has not looked back since; has a simple operating model which is to provide healthy, traditional and home style cuisine to meet the fast lane demands of the modern world. The essence of the healthy and spicy grilled chicken is the age old recipe which has been used by Portugese chefs centuries ago.
This is the only place in Kolkata which is offering red, black and white burger where the colours of the burger buns are made with natural colours and are an off shoot of spinach, cocoa or beet root. Situated on the 3rd floor of Acropolis Mall, this 3000 sq ft restaurant welcomes you with a world map which shows the countries and cities where the outlets are present. Nicely done decor with a rustic feeling, has 3 sections of seating and the corner one is going to be the most coveted one with the walls painted with a scene from the town of Barcelos of Portugal and the story of the legend of Barcelos. Barcelos Kolkata also has a provision for seating outside.
We experienced some wonderful innovative food starting with molecular welcome drinks in various flavours like berry cucumber, tangy mango, kiwi kooler and hey rosey. This is definitely a unique feature with theatre around it. In the main course, the burgers for which the place is famous is a must try. All the burgers come in vegetarian and non vegetarian options and for the non veg options, the chicken grilled with peri peri sauces between the buns is juicy and the dressing with sliced jalapeños and sautéed onions just make a perfect bite. Each table is provided with four peri peri sauces- Tangy lemon, Mild Peri, Veri Peri and Supa peri named after the spice quotient of the sauce. The sauces are imported from South Africa and create excitement on the plate when drizzled over the fiery grilled chicken.
One aspect which will create enough curiosity and also ‘wow factor’ is their signature dish of Chicken Espatada, where the chicken skewers are served hanging with sliced bell pepper and onions with a side of french fries and mayo dip. These are succulent juicy dips and the pieces are perfect to heart’s contentment. As its famous for its grilled chicken, the signature dish of 1/4 chicken, 1/2 chicken, full chicken, chicken steak are a must try. These can be selected with either one side or two side dishes which include spicy rice, mashed potatoes and many more. Not to miss out the grilled trout fish which is grilled with peri sauce. Unlike chicken found in a lot of places, every single piece of chicken that we had was unbelievably moist. We were told by the chef that they marinate the chicken in special spices and sauces for a week before it is grilled and served.
The only area of concern is the dessert section, where we feel it definitely needs a face lift/ addition of more desserts will just bring in a “happy ending” to the entire experience. The humble prediction is that this place is going to do well. The location is fantastic and the proximity to Chilis, which is well established in the city, gives it an added advantage of the spill over crowd till soon enough Barcelos will have its own crowd pulling factor. A little word of caution, which is an universal truth is that the quality of the food need to be consistent as that’s ‘the’ problem which is faced by most franchise.