Royal Indian Hotel Pvt. Ltd. — Restaurant in Kolkata

Mutton Chanp : Price : 320/ Plate : This is one of the most overhyped dish of Royal , Taste wise its good but the biggest challenge is it comes with very tiny little pieces of mutton and they are with bones. The entire chanp is full with tiny bones, so you can’t chew it and neither you can extract meat out of it using hand as they are so tiny, only option is to suck them like candy and extract meat with your teeth and tongue within mouth itself. Its ridiculous, specially when you are paying a good amount of price, just to enjoy it. Don’t know why they just cant made chanp using boneless mutton , so that people can actually eat it and enjoy the food. We ordered four plates of Chanp and practically we have to throw away 75% of it in each plate and only consumed which are boneless tiny pieces among the small portion that were served. Rest was not consumable and its a complete waste of money. Highly disappointed. Please avoid mutton chanp

Mutton Chanp Rating: Taste :4, Quality: 0, Portion: 2: Value for Money: 0

Mutton Biriyani: Price: 340/Plate: There specialty is no potato in Biriyani, so its not a Kolkata biriyani in true sense, but aroma and taste wise they are good. Rightly balanced, not very oily and long grain rice. Mutton piece served were very small compared to price, but it was well cooked and literally melt in your mouth. So, taste wise, I will definitely give their Biriyani full marks but portion quantity and size of meat served in compare to price is very disappointing. If you are very hungry , One plate biriyani may not be sufficient for you, for an average appetite, you can manage with 1 plate. Some mutton piece comes with full fat only and very less meat there, so for such cases it’s difficult for you to consume entire rice without potato /egg and with very less meat and you may need to order additional side dish along with it.

Biriyani Rating : Taste :5, Quality : 1: Portion : 2 : Value...

1905: Lord Curzon divides Bengal; Royal Indian Hotel is born. Ahmed Hussain, a migrant from Lucknow with cooking experience in the royal kitchens of Awadh, comes to Calcutta and opens a small restaurant on the ground floor of a hotel in Chitpur. His menu? Three dishes — Mutton Chaap, Mutton Qalia and Khushka, a spiced up variation of yellow pulao.

1940s: India gets Independence; Royal gets its biryani. Without aloo. Why? Because the biryani in Lucknow, where Hussain hails from, doesn’t have aloo. Mehboob Ali, Hussain’s son who’s in charge of the Royal kitchen, introduces the biryani. Also, by now the Mutton Chaap has garnered a strong fan following. Aloo Gosht (a mutton stew cooked with potato) and Khushka are the other pop picks.

1960s: Green Revolution sweeps through India; chicken enters the Royal menu. And Calcutta gets a chicken version of everything ‘Royal’ — from chaap and rezala to kebabs and biryani.

1971: There’s a spike in world population (increases by 2.1 per cent, one of the highest in history); Royal expands (okay, kidding!). Growing popularity and queues outside force the owners to create a separate seating area on the first floor of the building, which used to be a hotel.

1997: We swooned over Jack-Rose’s Titanic; Royal opens an air-conditioned dining area.

2016: Mamata Banerjee returns with a record majority; Royal opens a second outlet, after 110 years.

This timeline shows what a great historical eatery house this restaurant has been over the years. The ambiance is beautiful, prices are reasonable, food quality is exceptional and hospitality takes you back to the "Babu Culture" of Kolkata. Here we had Chicken Reshmi Kebab, Chicken Biriyani, Roomali Roti, Lachha Paratha, Shahi Paneer, Shahi Tukda. A small parking is in front of the restaurant for two wheelers and if you provide a bit of tips the guard will safely park...

This restaurant, located in a very old part of Calcutta - Chitpore Road - is part of the culinary and cultural heritage of Calcutta. Royal's chaap has been immortalised in the old stories from this city. The restaurant was opened in 1905. If you go there with family be prepared to climb a very steep staircase. The ground floor dining hall is not really for family and does not accept credit card. Try their mutton chaap pasinda, which is the boneless version of the original chaap. Pasinda chaap is available only on certain days of the week though. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Prices are reasonable and food is simply great. Royal's traditional items like Biryani and Chaap are iconic. Kebabs are relatively recent addition, just to keep up with the Joneses. With Nakhoda mosque close by, the restaurant serves certain special dishes around Ramjan. The restaurant does not serve any beef item. I have deducted one star because there are certain logistical issues about going to the restaurant. If you go by car, there is absolutely no way you can park nearby. You find parking only about 5/7 minutes' walking distance away from the restaurant, which by By Calcutta's standards is very far. The staircase to the upper floor air-conditioned halls is very steep and might be dangerous for the elderly or children. Decor is staid and just functional. Nothing much to write home about. There is another branch of the restaurant in Park Circus that is easier to reach and has better logistics. It has opened rather recently. But if you want to taste the authentic and original nothing beats...