Downtown Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Kolkata

Downtown is a newly opened rooftop bar lounge, situated in Kasba, Bakultala more, just above Club Salon. Earlier it was a guest house but now they have converted it to bar, resturant and banquet hall. Downtown rooftop lounge is at the 5th floor. Brilliant road side view, good music, but compared to other rooftop it's bit small in size. Now coming to the management part, earlier they said that they have 2:1 offer on Kingfisher beer, but when we ordered it, they said no offer is there. Later on they again came back and said yes sir, offer is there. Food is okayish, the reason I am telling quality of the food is very average and served cold,infact portion is also not adequate. Apart from that everything is okay type, one time visit is okay. The main thing when they generate they bill , they charged service charge as extra apart from CGST and SGST, although we told them that we are not going to pay the service charge as extra. Later on, after long discussion they told us it's optional. I don't understand why restuarant charge it separately , people who don't know this, will pay it. My kind request if you see such thing don't pay it separately. They do have car parking in front of the building.

We visited on 14th February for the 2nd time, to celebrate our valentine day. All the starters was just delicious and excellent. In the main course, we ordered Chicken Burnt Garlic rice, which was not upto to the mark. Usually, the taste is a bit different from the actual burnt garlic rice. This is one of my favourite item in Chinese , had in many Chinese restuarant. Their one disappoint me a bit, if you want to try it in a aunthentic style go for Shanghai/ Chowman. For side we ordered Hot Garlic chicken which was also okayish, could have been better though. Apart from these two items, every item was excellent. Even though they said Service tax is OPTIONAL, everytime they add in the bill with Cgst and SGST, which is very annoying. Please check you bill before paying it, as if any restuarant charges service tax separately don't pay it as it is optional. We had requested them to pay us back the amount, as we had already made the total bill amount. On the next day, got my service tax amount. As per government rules, a restuarant cannot charge service tax separately. Apart from these everything was fine and we had a great time there.

Would I recommend it?? Good for one time visit. I still believe they need improve the food quality and...

I'm not sure if this is a restaurant or a complex social experiment designed to test the limits of human patience and digestive resilience. The service was an absolute disaster. Not only were the few staff members we encountered incredibly rude and dismissive, but they were also almost completely absent. They seemed personally offended that we dared to enter their establishment and ask for, you know, food. Waiting times were astronomical, making it clear that customer care is the lowest possible priority here. The food was equally offensive. It was poorly prepared, tasteless, and borderline inedible. It's truly baffling that a professional kitchen could produce something of this low quality.Every dish was a tragic masterpiece of poor execution—cold where it should be hot, soggy where it should be crisp, and tasting vaguely of regret.The entire meal felt like a test of endurance. The service was excruciatingly slow, making the wait for the awful food even more insulting. This establishment suffers from a complete lack of professionalism, basic courtesy, and culinary skill. Avoid this place at all costs.

The Food: A Series of Culinary Failures

Tangra Style Chilli Chicken: This was the first sign of trouble. The chicken was not properly fried—it was soggy, under-crisped, and lacked the signature texture this dish requires. When I politely informed the staff, they didn't offer to fix it; they simply cancelled the order. No apology, no alternative, just cancellation.

Crispy Chilli Baby Corn: Hoping for a rebound, we tried the Baby Corn. It was a disappointment: poorly balanced and tasted decidedly below average. It was edible but certainly not enjoyable, a testament to a kitchen that clearly doesn't taste its own food.

Hakka Noodles: This was the breaking point. When I took the first bite, the quality was so poor, it broke the last strand of my patience. The dish was so unappetizing that I immediately told the waiter to cancel the rest of our order (which was still waiting...

Booked thru Zomato on 12th Oct'24 for 11 pm slot for 2 persons. Reached the restaurant around 11:15 pm. Receptionist at ground floor said last order can be placed by 11:30 pm. We placed order by 11:35 pm. First round of drinks & starter served by 11:45 pm. Second round of drinks served at 11:55 pm & to our shock & surprise, the staff asked us to consume the drinks in 5 Mins by 12 am! When asked reason, he said they have to close by 12. My question is, why did u then accept the order!? How a full drinks [it was not a Shot] & food can be finished in 5 mins! Even, we had to take our dinner packed! I am a very regular customer of Downtown. However, now onwards I'll say, I WAS a regular customer as I WILL never ever visit Downtown. There r other reasons also for my such decision: They have increased prices of drinks & food by almost double which never matches with the standard of this restaurant. Restaurants of much better standard has a much better & lesser pricing than Downtown. Food quality has deteriorated. Yesterday's Chilli chicken was smeeling like it was stale. Variety of drinks are missing. Earlier, they used to have a good range. Now, u can see their bar counter is almost empty. Seems, they have lost customers like me. Finally, after my yesterday's experience, I would suggest all to rethink before visiting this place. Additionally, even if u get 50% discount thru Zomato, the price of both drinks & food is going to higher than many other restaurants having much better standard, ambience, quality & service. Just to add, I had recommended this place to many of my friends & colleagues. I had parties with my colleagues at this place. My colleagues also had parties here. Now, surely I am going to discourage all to visit Downtown after my yesterday's experience & also due to the...