Excellent Food Great Ambience. Review on Teej, Russel Street, Kolkata

Teej restaurant

I stay at Haldia a sea port of West Bengal. Both, my wife and myself value good food but our choices are restricted because we are vegetarians. Haldia being a interior part of west Bengal the restaurants here are primarily non-veg in keeping with local taste. Vegetarian food is available, but that distinct taste of pure veg food is rather difficult to be found. Teej was recommended to us by a number of peoples both having non-vegetarian and vegetarian eating preferences, for the excellent food quality along with an excellent ambience.

A Vegetarian joint

I am mentioning this as the first point because for me as a vegetarian the choice of restaurants becomes limited. Hence one of the main reasons we used to rush to Kolkata nearly every weekend and some lucky weekdays was because we wanted to enjoy the excellent vegetarian joints that this great city has to offer.

General Ambience

Teej is basically a restaurant on the Rajasthani mould. Infact it specializes on Rajasthani food along with all other vegetarian delicacies. At the entry itself are two “darbaans” (guards/waiters) in full traditional rajasthani attire complete with dhoti, Achkan, and a nice pagri. You are welcomed with a traditional Indian style comprising of a sober Namaste and a chant of “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail to Lord Rama – a traditional Indian way of greeting).

The main hall is decorated with traditional designs on the ceiling and walls, which are all hand-painted. The selections of the paintings and the general mood of these paintings and murals give a distinct Rajasthani touch to the atmosphere. All waiters wear a tie and die turban giving an additional contribution to the distinct touch of Rajasthan. Importantly the decorations are sublime and there is no doze of over-kill.

Food quality

We had taken traditional Rajasthani meal of Dal Bati Churma, along with Jaljeera and Dahi kababs as starters, with Keshar Kulfi as dessert. Each item was really tasty and carried an authentic touch of the region.

Service & general behaviour

One thing which really touched my heart was the behaviour of the staff. Unlike the stiff waiters we usually see nowadays, the waiters in true Indian style, really urged us very politely to take one more bati, or a little bit of dal more. Apart from home, where a mother, sister or a wife feeds one in such an affectionate manner, this level of involvement is rare to be found.

The amount of ghee in Bati and Dal was rather more, but I was assured by the waiter that it was quite less as compared to what is traditionally taken. In any case, I must admit that the ghee did complement the bati and panchratni dal and added to its taste superbly.

Expenses:

Are in the upper middle class range. A Decent meal for two with starters and desserts etc may cost around 600-700. Prices are quite reasonable, and as regards to general ambience, taste, and general behaviour of the staff, they seem to be worth it.

Location:

With my experience of messing about the locations I will describe this in rather detail. Teej is located at Russel Street in Kolkata. As such new taxi drivers might not know this street, so a better idea would be to reach the very well known Park Hotel situated on equally well known Park Street. Just directly opposite to the entrance of Hotel area is a big street, that is Russel street. It would be good to remember that there is also a underground Metro Railways station called “Park Street” which is quite close to the Park Street.

Trivia

One of the very few vegetarian joints with a bar.

Some other good vegetarian joints at Kolkata:

• Gangaur at Russel street

  
  




• Gupta Brothers at Park Street and other locations

  
  




• HaldiRam’s near Rabindra Sadan Metro Station