Marco Polo — Restaurant in Kolkata

Once upon a time Marco Polo was the name which people used to showcase their social staus. Till today it is so symbolic that if someone is having a meal there that means he/she beyond average or may be a bit more than that. But let me tell you at present these are all myths and not facts. It was one of the most extravagent restaurants of park street 11 years back when I started my corporate career and had a chance to enter and had a meal with friends. While entering inside the restaurant today with my wife I had the same level of excitement. But alas! It all went in vein when the service started. We wanted to sit at the first floor and they said "sorry Sir, we are closing". I was shocked and asked if we entered outside of the working hours( it was 3pm) and they pointed us a table at the groundfloor( or I should say underground floor) which was just infront of the staircase without even bothering to answer our question. We were not ready to sit there so they put us in another table that was again not worth mentioning. The most ridiculous part was mosquitos were hovering around behind my back. No sanitizors available on the tables forget about masks. I am very happy with the hygene level maintained by small restaurants than this funny place called MARCO POLO. Now lets talk about the food. We asked a very simple question to the waiter who was taking our order, "What is the best dish of Marco Polo?" and the answer was rather shocking, "Nothing Sir". Seriously!! May be he wanted to say "we are good for nothing sir". Anyways we inquired about some platters and finally decided to go for Chelo kabal and Lamb gourlash. We orderd mocktails as well. A blue lagoon and a vergin mojito. Though vergin mojito could have been better but still mocktails were nice and refreshing and delivered quite fast which was nice(expected a better presentation though). After few minutes the main course came and the quantity was so very less that it would definitely not going to be sufficient for even one person. Chelo kabab tasted nice but nothing compared to the legendery Peter Cat. Two half coocked tomatoes were placed on the plate which they might have forgotten to roast properly. Even a roadside eatery has better roasted tomatoes available in their dishes.Lamb gourlash's quanity was so ridiculously meagre that one person could barely feel anything went inside the stomach. Gravy of the lamb tasted nice but carrots inside were so uncooked that you can feel it while munching. Within 15 minutes(I checked my watch) we had our dishes empty and ready to go out as quickly as possible without wasting a single minute there as moquitos started having their lunch on my back.

No mouth freshner no tooth picks and no thank you. Thats all folks! End of great MARCO POLO experience. Please visit at your own risk.

Pocket pinch: Rs.1400 for two if you go for two platter of meal and mocktails. But you have to eat again outside so better to add that amount as well in the total expenses.

P.S. Do not ger carried away by the photos. The food quantity can only be understood...

My second visit to this restaurant. Good location, spacious, less noisy, average ambiance, good food, courteous team but extremely steep prices Vs food portions served, Few immature staff. A few instances...

When we entered we were told to wait despite a number of tables were empty. Thus building an unwanted pricyness approach in the start. This was though immediately rectified and one vacant table was given.

A Long Waiting time for food was irritating.... but more irritating was that waiter came up and started picking up the empty plates and dishes of my family members who finished food but while I still having and hadn't finished food yet ... leaving me eating alone on the table which was embarrassing, thus indirectly communicating and forcing to finish your food and leave the place asap. Meaning.... should the waiter even approach and ask to pick up the dishes when someone's hasn't closed his plates yet and still eating unless asked to do so. We ignored it and I tried finishing my food in a hurry so that they may give me the Bill and we leave immediately thereafter.

But here's the irony... after I finished my food and plates taken away, we requested for the Bill. They made us wait for good more than 20 mins waiting for the bill which didn't come till the time we actually got up and went to the billing desk requesting the bill to be paid. I told them since they are so buzy and could not give my bill I told them to take down my mobile number and to send the bill and I would make the payment. Apologizing for the delay, they gave me someone's bill. When I checked and pointed out, the biller apologized again. I once again told since they are busy, send the bill to my mobile and I the payment despite giving my full identification. But he was insistence to clear the bill. Finally then he printed the bill, gave it to me and I promptly paid. He told me that he will make up for the inconveniences caused the next time of our visit to which I clearly told that we are not visiting again in future for their unprofessional approach. I could pay my bill 30 minutes after my finishing our food which they made me hurried up.

By the way No mouth fresheners were even offered after finishing the food.

I sincerely hope that Marco Polo doesn't repeats this experience with their other customers.

All the very...

Went there on a puja evening and surprisingly got seats without even waiting for a single minute when other restaurants having a long queue. Even for other days when few of my other friends visited them, they also got their seats pretty quickly. So it will be a very good option for lunch or dinner on puja days. Also during 2021 puja days, they were not charging any coverage money while most of the other bars nearby were doing so.

Now, let's have a chat about their ambience first. It's a decent looking restaurant, having two storied seating arrangement. Ambience wise, it's very calm and beautiful, so if you like that sort of a place then I'm sure that you are going to love it.

Then up is the options available on their menu. Good thing was that they had kept their original menu even on the puja days and not those modified tiny puja special menu and stuffs. So for that too i liked it.

Now let's talk about the food taste and quality. We had Chicken malai kebab, pepper garlic chicken as starters. Both of these are good in taste, also quantity wise they were alright. But I didn't like their Mocktails, the blue lagoon and Virgin mojito were average in taste where as Mediterranean beauty was very bad in taste, so that's a downside which i felt. In the main course we had chicken stroganoff and their signature dish chelo kebab. Both of these were good in taste as well as in portion size. So liked that too. As dessert, we had chocolate mousse as they didn't had Darshan with ice cream available. I found it's consistency to be more on the softer state, would've loved it if it was a bit more dense.

At last let's talk about their serving. Their staffs were very helpful and courteous. They even helped us choose the dishes according to our liking. So a positive point to them for that.

Overall a good enough experience, would love to visit...