Cabin Food Walk
Indian Coffee House and around
It is something that has been known for a while and a belief we at Calcutta Walks strongly stand by, that food is one of the strongest connects you can have with any city. Any cuisine with its varied flavours, common ingredients and distinct taste adds a unique identity to the character of a place.
Calcutta too has its incredible tastes – but what makes her’s so amazing is the variety of flavours that have emerged because of the plethora of influences that she has merged in herself.
In an endeavour to provide a holistic experience of the city to those who are more than tourists, Calcutta Walks has come up with its unique Cabin Food Walk.
In this we take you through all the hole in the wall eateries that dot old Calcutta where everyone from revolutionaries to literati have gathered to satiate their hunger for food and flock. So join us to eat from the palette that has served many a poet, writer, activist, footballer, filmmaker, photographer, et al.
Street Food Calcutta Tours
New Market and around
You get to experience some of the best food in the world at a fraction of the cost that you’d pay anywhere else. While some food items developed indigenously most have been brought it by the many settlers who came in attracted by the prosperity of this colonial city. Without further ado let’s plunge in and find out the best available street food in the city and the many locations and outlets that will leave you craving for more.
From the famous Kati rolls, a unique Calcutta style wrap, to street side masala cha, from varieties of fried fish to the unending list of delectable sweets. The range that you will experience will be a delight for all foodies.
Depending on where we go the tour may include a taste of:
Jalebis, Soota Kababs, Dahi Papdi Chaat, Gaathia, Dalpuri, Chai, Chilla, Chowmein, Bhel Puri, Jhaal Muri, Puchkas, Paw Bhaji, Shinghara, Aloo Puri, Fish Fry… and so on.
In the footsteps of the Raj / White Town Walk
Dalhousie Square
The British had sought to build ‘the second city of the Empire’ right here and it is this ‘building’ that we’ll show you in the course of our walk through the ‘European’ areas of what was once the capital of the British Empire in India. There are major plans on to beautify and restore this heritage site with its rich and varied architectural styles.
One of our most popular walks this serves as the perfect introduction to British Calcutta and gives you a sneak peek into what went into the making of the Colonial Capital of India. So prepare to whet your appetite for all things Raj.
Confluence Of Cultures / The Melting Pot Walk
Bow Barracks to Burrabazar
Our city has witnessed many more cultures in its past than most others would even in this globalised present. Here we will trace for you the origins and remains of the varied communities that hung their boots and called Calcutta home. Lets check out why Chinese breakfast still rules Tiretta Bazar, where the Parsis are dwindling in numbers with each passing day and how the Armenians gave the city its oldest surviving Christian church while we pass the Anglo-Indians, the Muslims, the Marwaris, the Biharis and many more that made this city a great melting pot of diverse cultures. This is one of our most popular tours and highly recommended to get an idea of the melting pot that Calcutta is.
The Star Still Shines / Black Town Walk
Sovabazar
The ever-vital hub of traditional Bengali culture, ‘the natives’ area’, Sovabazar is all this and much more. This area contains a fascinatingly cosmopolitan blend of the seemingly incongruous architectural forms (from Islamic to Baroque, from Victorian to Bengali) which made up the old world dwellings of the city’s wealthier Bengalis. No one who wishes to savor the authentic flavor of Bengali culture and cuisine can afford to miss out on this walk.
Join us to learn much more about life in Black Town, to get a glimpse of this time warp called Bengali Calcutta.
Cook as the Bongs do / Bengali Cooking Experience
Lake Market / Jadu Babu Bazar
Bengal is a foodie’s paradise and more so Calcutta, where various adventurers have left their gastronomical imprints. We take you through an experience not easy to forget…especially because of the satiating burps afterwards. A walk through the market will familiarize you with the ingredients that go into the making of some of authentic Bengali food and we follow that up with cooking demonstration by either a regular housewife or by the owners of the finest restaurants of the city. Always followed by authentic Bengali sweets – a good enough reason to be on this tour.
Special Instructions
Please do mention to the cook if you have any sort of allergies. All the food is bought fresh and cooked in front of you, in case your stomach is super-sensitive we advise that you take your necessary pills.
City Of Learning
College Street - Bengal Renaissance Walk
Calcutta is a city where the east and the west met and this meeting of such great forces could not have been devoid of friction. We will try and give you a glimpse of this in the course of our walk through arguably the largest books bazaar in the world. In the course of this journey you will learn how religions, sciences, societies, technologies and above all individuals underwent a sea change. From the first university of Asia to the hub of all adda, from religious experiments to scientific calculations, from booksellers that deal in old and rare books to eateries that only catered to nationalists – you will see all that went into the awakening of a new order.
Bringing the Goddess To Earth
Flower Market to Kumartuli - Life By The River Walk
Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganges is integral to the very identity of Bengal. It gives and sustains life for the millions that depend on it. From the wrestlers who exercise on its soft clay to the boatmen who ferry people across, from the flower sellers who need the water to keep their produce fresh to the boys who throw magnets and retrieve coin offerings from its bed. Join us in exploring this visual, aural and olfactory riot from the flower bazaar to the clay idol makers’ den, Kumartulli, from the Howrah Bridge to the cremation ghats – it’s the buzz of life.
The Taj of the Raj
Victoria Memorial Walk
Ever since the British cleared a village to create their firing range for the new fort, the Maidan has served as the lungs of the city and played host to many an important monument. Among the most prominent is what was created as a memorial to Queen Victoria, the Empress of India, and a reminder to the achievements of the British rule and its most important proponents. Join us to explore and demystify this beautiful monument and soak in the locality surrounding this temple to Toria Mai – Victoria, the Mother.
Now That’s Entertainment
Park Street - Societies to Cemeteries Walk
Park Street ‘The City That Never Sleeps’ as well as the erstwhile ‘Burial Ground Road’, welcome to the Park Street. If Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj, then Park Street was the capital street of the city, where the rich and the famous lived, dined and made merry. Here, we will traverse down this hugely famous as well as infamous promenade and pay homage to the pleasure capital of the British empire. So, come with us as we take you from one end of the street to the other taking in restaurants, watering holes, hotels, the churches, colleges, stately homes and the burial grounds. Whew! Now that’s some street!
Reminiscence and Resurgence
Chowringhee - Buzzing Calcutta Walk
We will circumnavigate the Grand, an iconic Calcutta landmark which has weathered changing tastes and turbulent times to retain its status as one of Calcutta’s most beloved luxury hotels. Take in the frenzied economic activity that occurs all around its periphery, and find out why savvy shoppers have never given up on New Market, where it was said one could buy anything – from pins to pachyderms. Ponder the loss of such great establishments as Whiteway-Laidlaw, Bourne and Shepherd, and Firpo’s and their ironic replacement by the ubiquitous hawker and his wares. Once known as the most fashionable street and earning Calcutta its epithet as the ‘city of palaces’ you will see how Chowringhee still has a lot of charm on offer.
As The Muezzin Calls / Ramzan Food Walk
Nakhoda Mosque and around
The holy month of Ramazan is extremely special for Muslims for a variety of reasons. It’s a month where they learn to abstain — abstain from excesses – excesses in food, drink, entertainment and everything else that is taken for granted throughout the year. This month makes them pause and reflect about everything that is consumed.
From sunrise to sunset, roza is all about battling hunger and thirst every day. Different people pass their days in different ways with varying levels of activity but everyone is united by that fact that come sunset when the muezzin stands to give the call to prayer (azaan), everyone waits with bated breath to thank the Lord for the enormous bounty he has provided us by way of food.
This is where we trace what goes into the making of the Iftar and all the special goodies that are rustled up for the devout.
Depending on availability the tour may include dates, fried stuff, fruits and sweets.
For reading the article on the Ramzan Walk 2017 in click here The Telegraph, Kolkata on the Ramzan Walk by Calcutta Walks
For further reading check out Explorer Ifte’s articles in The Telegraph, Kolkata and the Wall Street Journal, India.