Lakshmi openly welcomed my Dad & I into her home, treated us like family & gave us an experience to remember. She personalised our menu to our preferences & taught us how to cook our favourite dishes (with exact measurements & the correct spices). Even with my slight medical emergency, she was kind, accommodating & insistent on teaching me exactly how to cook the meal. Lakshmi even printed the detailed recipes & ended the meal with a lovely pot of Darjeeling Tea from the family estate. It was lovely getting to know her & her husband, and the food was delicious. I look forward to trying to replicate it at home once I find the best spices for the job. Would highly recommend, the food was unbelievable!
Zinnia was really helpful and efficient, and the dishes were delicious. One of the best things about them is that they are so different from anything one can taste in the UK, and reminded me of my lovely holidays in India. Absolutely superb.
Had a last minute dinner arrangement at Bibi’s house. Was rather difficult for me to find her home but Bibi and her husband really tried to help me and navigate through the city, they were extremely supportive.We pre- agreed in the main courses with Bibi prior the event. I was nicely welcomed in their home- felt like visiting a friend of mine. Besides the great dinner - I believe there were 8 or 9 courses- we chatted nicely through the evening as well. Enjoyed the food and hospitality big time,and I got exactly what I have expected . If you are interested how locals live, the wonderful Bengali food, I highly recommend traveling spoon and Bibi as a host to you.
The cooking class with Debjani was my absolute favourite part of visiting Kolkata! I went for a lunchtime class, along with the market tour—here are some of my highlights: - Debjani was such a lovely host! She made me feel really comfortable immediately and had so many interesting stories about her life, the food, and Kolkata - Her apartment is beautiful! It's a love letter to Kolkata, full of tasteful pieces of art, all of which have fascinating origins - The market tour was my favourite part of the whole day. We drove down to a nearby farmer's market and tried and bought lots of super fresh and unique ingredients—most of which I had never seen before. We also went to a classic Kolkata fish market with some of the freshest seafood I've seen - Debjani also drove me around that area of Kolkata and gave me a lot of background and stories about the different parts of the city. We stopped by an iconic tea stall and got chai and snacks too! - The cooking was so much fun—Debjani had planned five or six separate dishes and some of the prep (like overnight marination and mise en place) had already been done to make things a bit smoother - Everything was incredibly tasty and there were lots of dishes that I had never heard of before but will definitely be making again! It ended up being a full afternoon and the whole experience gave me a view into Kolkata that I would have completely missed if I just did all the touristy spots. I'd highly recommend the class for anyone who is interested in food, history, architecture, or Bengali culture!