Calcutta Retro — Restaurant in Kolkata

This used to be my go to place to try out good bengali dishes and I have visited it 4-5 times with family and friends before, when I had a great experience. But when I visited on 6th March, 2025 for dinner, I noticed the unkepmt interiors, where the table top were shoddily arranged and there was old cleaning cloth and liquid kept on top of a table without any care. There was no one in the restuarant at that point of time, we took our seat of choice and decided to order Kolkata Bhetki Fry and Metiabruz Murgh Tikka. The service was extremely shoddy and you could feel the change in the vibe of the restuarant, and to add to it I could not see any of the old staff who used to be there. The food came in after 20-25 mins, the Kolkata Bhetki Fry looked good and tasty but we were proved wrong once we tasted it. There was such a strong pungent smell from both the pieces given to us, that we could not eat and had to call in the server. The restaurant manager was pretty defensive in the beginning when we told them the issue and brought out a raw fish to prove that they had indeed seved us fresh Bhetki when we asked about its authenticity and freshness, though we still think it was not fresh hence the smell. But the staff were courteous enough to give us a freshly made piece of Bhetki Fry, and unfortunately we had the same issue with that one too. We dropped the issue and did not finish the dish. The Metiabruz Murgh Tikka was also a dish which I had tried earlier and was utterly disappointed this time, I saw something totally different being served to us, which made no sense and did not taste one bit like how it was described in the menu. Also, we got 4 pieces instead of the written 6. Upon asking the manager once again, he was pretty rude to say that this is how it was always served and tasted. I probed about any change in staff and kitchen but he was rude again to say that there is nothing as such. But we had made up our mind by then, to not have any further dishes that evening and decided to pay the bill. This experience was enough for me to decide never to come back to this place which used to be a go to, the sharp decline in the food quality and overall experience is straight up embarassing. They should do a service to themselves and immediately shut down the restuarant instead of serving dishes which are a mere shadow of what...

I’ve visited this restaurant twice before and was always impressed by the quality of the food. So, when I decided to bring my family along, I was excited to introduce them to this place, having spoken so highly of it. However, my experience this time was far from pleasant.

Upon entering, my brother-in-law pointed out a roach on one of the tables, which was extremely embarrassing. I asked the waiter to address the issue, but instead of offering a solution, he simply insisted we sit at a different table.

The food was another disappointment. The dishes were completely different from what I had enjoyed before. I ordered the Prawn Malai Curry, which had only two tiny pieces of prawn on a strange plate, and the Korai Shutti Kochuris were cold and greasy. The overall quality was far below what I had previously experienced.

To make matters worse, the waitstaff seemed disinterested and unhelpful. When I spoke to the manager about the issues, he was rude and refused to acknowledge that the dishes had changed. He insisted that everything was exactly as before, which felt dismissive and frustrating.

I was also disappointed to find that the staff didn’t even know about the offers running on Dine Out, adding to my frustration. This place used to be a gem, but it seems the change in staff and kitchen staff has really affected the quality. It’s a shame to see a once-great restaurant...

I recently visited this restaurant for their Puja Special Buffet and unfortunately, the experience was very disappointing.

Pros:

The food quality was nice in terms of taste and freshness.

Cons:

The space was too congested, making it uncomfortable.

The AC was not working, which made the environment even worse.

The buffet started very late, causing unnecessary waiting.

Many items that were listed in the buffet menu were not available.

Staff gave no proper attention to us.

In both starters and desserts, it was very obvious they were trying to cut costs by skipping even the most basic items promised in the menu.

The biggest issue: I booked via Zomato, which clearly mentioned 30% off on the total bill and complimentary on-the-house drinks. But at the time of payment, they refused to accept Zomato payment or honor the offer. This seems completely against Zomato’s policy, as they used the platform to attract customers but did not deliver what was promised.

Overall, despite the decent food quality, the management, service, and dishonesty regarding offers completely ruined the experience. I left really disappointed and would not recommend this restaurant to others until they fix...