Shelves lined with paperbacks authored by Bengalis, an old gramophone coupled with LPs, and Rabindrasangeet playing softly in the background — the ambiance at Sahara Star’s newly launched fine-dining restaurant, 25 Parganas, is nostalgically Bengali. However, the chic black and white interiors add a contemporary feel to the restaurant.

Sahara Star’s latest restaurant, 25 Parganas, is nostalgically Bengali. Pics/Moeena Halim

Soon after we settle ourselves onto a table for two, our server politely greets my dinner companion and me for the night. But he isn’t the only one to ask after us and enquire about our meal.

Watching us pore over the menu, most of which is in Bengali, he offers some much-needed assistance. He urges us to order the Posto Bhetki Bhapa (Rs 900), even he though he warns us we’d have to wait longer than usual. We snack on the complimentary fried potato sticks, the sweet-sour tomato chutney and kasundi in the meantime, and we know we’ve made the right choice as soon as the waiter brings over the bamboo steamer and lifts the lid to serve us. A bite of the mild melt-in-the-mouth freshwater fish fillets complemented by a kasundi marinade tells us the taste evenly matched its fragrance.