ELLIOT ROAD SURUCHI SELF HELP GROUP — Restaurant in Kolkata

I am not a GenZ kid who loves pizza & burger. I notice little things minutely as life is happier when we start to enjoy the little things. And Suruchi? It was a BIG disappointment to me. This Place looked very low-key and cozy at first. Silent. Low lights. I ordered A Chicken cutlet and a Sprite to start off my lunch while I was deciding my main course. They gave me a bottle of ₹20 wala Sprite and my chicken cutlet. I took a sip and then realised that It has lost its taste. I checked and found that it expired on March 2024 (given that today is November 2024). Serving a customer an Expired product who travelled all the way 10+ kms Just to taste the food, is Really very Bad. I was NOT AT ALL OKAY with it. I expected a Free replacement of the drink (if not an add on complimentary for the apology). To my surprise, they told me that they are scratching the Drink off of my order as they don't have a replacement. The rest of my orders came as very blunt, cold and tasteless. I mean I felt like another lunch at my own house. The place has no speciality of its own. Apparently I heard the staffs discussing about returning the whole package of the drinks because that has expired (WHICH THEY ONLY FOUND OUT AFTER I POINTED THAT OUT). I cannot Imagine how many people they have served these expired products. I wanted to try some sweets and curd, but my fear of expired food items made me feel utterly disgusted about sitting in that place even for a second more. I am only writing this to ensure that my foodie friends over here do not face this situation and can experience their Foodgasm in the way they actually deserve. Overall, it was an experience YOU DONT WANT TO HAVE WHEN YOU ARE...

Established in 1952, and fully operational from 1972, Suruchi is run by a self-help women's group. Founded mainly to provide financial support to refugees who migrated to Kolkata after independence, this restaurant serves only Bengali food - a very futuristic idea indeed. It was frequented by many notable persons, e.g. Satyajit Ray. However, it operates only during daytime, from 10-30 to 3-30, but the later you go there, the less number of items you get. And, only cash is accepted.

We ordered quite a bit : rice, dal, aloo bhaja, bekti fry, mocha chingri (banana flowers with shrimps), ilish bhapa (hilsa item), kochi panthar jhol(tender mutton curry), gokul pithey (dessert).

Now, the review. Rice (plain) quality was good, not under-cooked as generally found in many places. We managed to get only one piece of bekti fry, but that tasted just great. Mocha chingri, although spicy, was fabulous. Hilsa was delicious, although a bit costly (hilsa was not really available in the Ganga this year). The mutton, cooked without any spice, was very soft. We tasted gokul pithey for the first time in life. Stuffed with grated coconut, it was good. Eventually, we ended up in eating so much that we had to cancel our next programme and went back home to take rest.

The women who serve food, mix their warmth also, which can be felt easily. Tramcars ply just in front of the restaurant. So the glimpses of trams passing by while savouring the food add a true Kolkatan flavour.

It's a must-visit restaurant for anyone looking for authentic Bengali...

I went to this restaurant on 13/12/19 for lunch. If there could have been -1marking I would have given this rating to this Restaurant. Utter disgust that will come to your taste buds when you will be served Rice in a katori that serves dal and charge you 30/ bucks for it. That apart Musur Dal which we ordered, roadside cooks makes it better. Now the climax of the ordered item was Pabda Shorshe. Yuck yuck yuck is the first word which cones to mind, why? The restaurant owneres were very much aware that the fish was a week old stale fish, still they served it in yuck taste condition., which we couldn't eat and had to throw off. Rui jhal where Rui was teeny weeny size was charged at 120/ per plate. Pathetic experience and I can bet that no one will ever visit after they have visited once. Overall, you can never do good business when you cheat your customers knowingly ron...