Sonar Tori Restaurant - Salt Lake — Restaurant in Bidhannagar

We went there on March 23rd,2024 (group of 8).We were disappointed on multiple fronts.Below are some observations we had overall: 1)Firstly the buffet is non sharable and exorbitantly priced at 1450 plus taxes.They have mentioned so many things at the thali but I just could not believe the quantity they served.Wr Bengalis cannot serve so less to any guest visiting.I mean reduce the number of things in the thali but serve them generously.The amount of alubhate, tomato bhate and Shak they served made us think they were serving us considering us to be beggars whereas they are charging quite a lot.I am trying to see if I have the pic saved of this , if I find it will definitely add here which will give you an idea.My son can have 10 such portions with the amount of rice he eats.The amount of rice and pulao in the thali was also so less that one healthy adult won't be full.Lot of scope to think on the quantity served.

2. Food was okay( not great), I think the fish dishes were good ( we had malai curry and illish bhape) but mutton and chicken served in the thali where very difficult to chew and not soft.Overall not satisfactory when you are charging a premium.

3. Location being in CC1 is awesome and they could have done so much better with the food and prices Ambience was pretty good.

4. Nothing extraordinary in services offered but not much there was to complain too about them.

5. We also ordered aam pora sharbat and ghol.They were much much costlier than competition and quantity served was less than competition.

6. They had a note mentioned on the table that they will charge 10% service charges and if someone has problems they can raise to get it off the bill.I mean this does not go well with the status of the restaurant they are trying to project .Good places to dine do not put that kind of a note.

Overall it was not value for money Taste was not worth the bill we paid for , definitely both chicken and mutton needed improvement.It is a restaurant where being a Bengali you can still be there once just because you may here of this place from some source but pretty sure once having been there you will not be there again.I do not believe this restaurant will survive in the long run if the do not bring in the improvements both in their cooking and in the menu...

Thursday, The 3rd June 2022

Metal plates (Kansa) were full of old-oily and fishy smell, upon request to exchange, they told there is no bad smell, later they replaced twice, at the end they agreed.

We called the chef, the chef confessed that rice (Gobindo Bhog) was cooked last night, as he is the only chef in the kitchen without any helping hands.

Deshi Chicken was actually false, it was broiler chicken, the potato inside chicken curry was rotten potatoe, we requested the chef to check, he agreed!

One waiter was serving all tables, billing, collection of money and customer service, which was impossible for him to manage, they all agreed that they have extremely less manpower, they cannot manage.

Fish Jhuri was just a fake product, wherein four pieces half inch Moroulla fried fish were available, there was no such feelings that we were paying high costs ONLY for a better foods and worth services, we felt that we were completely cheated by the Sonar Tori restaurant.

It was NOT "Patol er Dolma", it was patol curry, I am a cook by passion, I know Patol Dolma, it was a shame in the name of Patol er Dolma.

We paid Rs. 6996/- for the food cost, which should not even worth more than Rs. 500 to 700 OVERALL. We can get much much and much better foods and services on a roadside food shop!!!

Not only we started telling them about our concerns, nearby customers from another 2 tables started complaining about their foods as well. One of them complained about rotten potatoes in their Biriyani, and they have shown their utter dissatisfaction. Another table stopped ordering further, because they found similar experience with their foods as well.

Their menus are showing big big names, those are actually false and fake.

I observed one more thing that they have no regrets for such foods and services, not even tried to discount and single rupee for such dispute.

At last one waiter understood, agreed totally and apologised for such unfortunate circumstances.

PLEASE THINK 1000 TIMES BEFORE ENTERING THIS RESTAURANT, YOU WILL BE TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED. THEY MUST UNDERSTAND THIS IS INDIA, AND PEOPLE ARE THE LAST WORD IN ANY SUCH...

Food was very good. Not too spicy and suitable for all age group. Ambience was great - the cutlary, lighting, wall art, seating arrangements - all lived up to the expectations.

I went with my family (Senior Citizens) on a Sunday afternoon. I did a prebooking from Zomato the day before and we arrived around 1 PM. Going early was definitely helpful since we did not have to wait and got a table immediately. The staff was helpful in getting us a table of our choice.

We ordered the Unlimited Non-Veg Thali with was about Rs. 1450 per person (No welcome drinks included). I was aware that my family members would not be able to eat that much, but I still wanted to give them the 'delight factor' with the famous thali that offers 20+ items across starters, main course and deserts. There was indeed a 'wow' when we finally saw the thali. So that part went pretty well! The price on the weekend is on the higher side and we spent Rs. 2250 per person for (1 Non Veg Thali + 2 Sharbats) each. Sharbats were Gondhoraj Ghol and Aam Poda Sharbat costing about ~Rs 250 per drink.

As expected, my elderly family members were not able to finish many of the food items, I think 15-20% of the items. Since it is not the restaurant's current policy to allow packing the unfinished thali items, there was a lot of food wastage. At the end of the day, it is not a good feeling to have that 15-20% of the money we paid for, went straight into the restaurant's dustbin! It is not a sustainable choice really. Not money wise, not environment wise either.

So, I feel a 'Gurujan Thali' option which is basically a 'Limited and Cheaper Thali' available only for senior citizens (60 years) may help save food wastage and also can be a little cheaper than the Unlimited option.

I request the Sonar Tori restaurant owners to look into the feasibility and viability of this option and do something to improve the restaurant's sustainability metric further.

Good experience overall. Will...