Barishaler Ranna Ghar (Kitchen) — Restaurant in West Bengal

Authentic Bengali Cuisine !!!!!

Bengali food is one cuisine which would suit any taste bud. Its light on stomach & heavy on flavours, which will make you crave for it again & again. The list of delicacies in Bengali cuisine are across boundaries.

On our recent trip to Shantiniketan , we planned to pay a visit to "Borishaler Ranna Ghar" on 31 Dec 2021 for lunch, which is quite famous for its Bengali food. It was approximately 15 kms from Goalpara where we were staying put. The visit was definitely worth it & we thoroughly enjoyed our food here. Heres what we ordered :-

Veg Thali : Comprised of Plain Rice, Ghee, Dal, Shukhto (made of veggies including Bitter Gourd, Raw Banana, Pumpkin, Potatoe, Masala Vadi), Dhokar Dalna (made of potatoes & cubes made of Chana Dal), Tomato Chutney, Aalo Bhaja (thin strips of Potatoe deep fried). Each dish was a treat in itself. The thali was sumptuous & Shukhto & Dhokar Dalna was full of flavours. Food was very light on stomach, but no compromise on taste there.

Mutton Kasha : A preparation of Mutton which is dry in texture. The dish was extremely flavouful. The mutton was very tender & cooked perfectly. Delicious indeed.

Bhetki Paturi : A variety of fish named "Bhetki" fillets prepared with mustard & other condiments & wrapped in Banana Leaf, which is then steamed. Unique flavours & tasty enough.

The Ambience too was nice & dinky. The owners have made an endeavour to give the restaurant a village touch, with the dining hall replicating a mud house with rural paintings on the wall & thatched roof on the ceiling. It was pretty pleasant.

A special mention of the service. Only ladies serve here. We were being served by a lady named "Tulsi" who was so congenial & warm. She made sure that our bellies are filled to the brim. Excellent hospitality. Loved the service here.

They have displayed few local artefacts & other items on sale just outside the dining hall, which the ladies would love to shop on. There's a Sweets counter as well, which sells Bengali Sweets. Since, our stomachs were already spilling, we were not in a position to try the sweets.

Overall a memorable experience. Since we went on 31st Dec, it was slightly crowded & hence, there was a waiting period.

Do visit here. Its strongly recommended.

Hope the review...

I had recently visited Barishaler Rannaghor with my family for a weekend lunch. To avoid any inconvenience, I had pre-booked our thalis in advance. We reached the restaurant by 1:50 PM, and as the service began, the first thing we were served was rice — unfortunately, it wasn’t hot. Along with it, we received some ghee and jhuri aloo bhaja, but the bhaja had a strong “tel chitey” smell, as we say in Bengali, which made it quite unappetizing.

The dal that followed was average, but the shukto was good. Then came an unexpected twist, they suddenly served us postor bora, and I was surprised because it wasn’t mentioned in our thali. I even asked if it was meant for us, and someone said yes. Since we were five people, and they served exactly five pieces, we took them onto our plates. But to our surprise, a different staff member came shortly after and informed us that the postor bora was not for us. I asked if I should return it to the tray, and she said yes. However, it had already touched my plate — which is clearly unhygienic and unfair for the next person it might be served to.

As we waited for the rest of the veg items, they started serving the non-veg dishes. I asked about the missing veg sabji, and after waiting for around 10 minutes, they brought aloo posto, which was not part of the pre-decided menu — we were supposed to get Dhokar Dalna. I refused to take it because aloo posto is usually paired with dal, which we had already finished. Eventually, they informed us that the dhoka was over, and instead, they could offer ichorer tarkari. But to our dismay, there was only a small portion of it in a large serving container — barely enough for two people, let alone five. Moreover, it had more potatoes than ichor.

By then, I was extremely disappointed, especially because my grandfather had opted for the veg thali only. While the rest of us had non-veg items like mutton and fish, his meal was completely ruined. Despite pre-booking and arriving on time, the entire experience was disorganized and quite frustrating.

Definitely not going to...

If there is a option of negative rating, I would choose that option. We have ordered Veg thali, Posto Bora, Chingri, Egg kosha well in advance on 02.12.23 for our lunch on 03.12.23. When we reached around 3.10pm, we have to pay for the food in advance. Then we seated in a table and waited for our food for 30 minutes. After that they told us we have to wait 20-30 minutes more as they have no rice left and they will again start to prepare rice!!!!!!!! They didn't have posto bora and Chingri also!!!!! Then we had cancel our food order and leave the restaurant around 3.50pm. From the incident we have realized few things about this restaurant----- Don't book your food well in advance because that doesn't guarantee your food will be served by the restaurant. There is a total mismanagement and chaos at weekend. People are generally visited BANALAKSHMI first which is famous for their food , but when they heard that without advance booking a day earlier food can not be served, they rushed to nearby option available Barishaler Rannaghar which accept to serve food without knowing their capacity and quantity of food they have cooked!!!!! Which resulting harassment of people. BANALAKSHMI is far better food & well management system. You have to book your meal a day earlier or even on morning of the same day. Food prices are also lesser in Banalakshmi. So try to avoid Barishaler Rannaghar for your lunch because they can spoil...