Little Kolkata, London | From Supperclub to Restaurant

Little Kolkata started life as a supperclub, founded by food lovers Prabhir Chattopadhay and Biswajit Deb Das. A few weeks ago, they opened their permanent restaurant site in London’s Covent Garden neighbourhood, bringing their Kolkata-inspired Bengali Canteen food to a new, wider audience.

The restaurant is modern and bright, and I love the terracotta water pitcher and beakers on each table.

Mini chip fryer pan of onion pakoras with small pot of chilli dip at Little Kolkata

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Pinterest Collage for Little Kolkata Bengali Canteen Restaurant in London's Soho Neighbourhood

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36 Comments to "Little Kolkata, London | From Supperclub to Restaurant"

  1. Aaron (@1dish4the4road)

    Thanks Kavey for the honest review of your visit. Perhaps they’re just settling in to the swing of things. I always try to root for these small businesses, especially when making the step up from supperclub to restaurant, so hope they manage to get some more consistency. But sounds like there’s promise there!..

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Yes, I think there’s lots of promise. For sure, they will still be settling into things, though of course, we weren’t there during soft opening, it was up and fully running for a few weeks by the time we went. For me, the uneven pricing / portion size issues and descriptions were the biggest issue. Food was, in the main part, delicious.

    Reply
  2. Snigdha (Snig of Snig's Kitchen)

    Dear Kavey,
    This is a very honest and accurate review. I think you are very fair to the restaurant and its food.
    I hope they can fulful their potential, as it would be great to see this place do well. I agree the pricing, portion sizes and descriptions are a problem here. The bhaji basket was a little stingy for what are, basically, very cheap ingredients!
    Another fab blog post!
    with best wishes
    Snigdha

    Reply
  3. Louise

    I love that you are so honest. I know very little about Indian food, so its good to get some inspiration about what to order – and what to avoid!
    I am often in Covent Garden, so maybe I will pop by and taste the delicious baked, sweet yoghurt! Yum
    Louise x

    Reply
  4. Fiona Maclean

    I’ve only been to Little Kolkata as a supperclub, where it was remarkably good value. I’m looking forward to trying the restaurant soon – and I’m surprised at the pricing. I guess it reflects the cost of a Soho address…

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Yes totally expect prices to be higher in a commercial property! They are a bit inconsistent though and for what we had this was the most expensive meal of several I ate in central London in that fortnight…

    Reply
  5. Hannah

    I imagine it’s a huge jump from supper club to restaurant – so I hope Little Kolkata gets over these bumps. The whole baby chicken with cashew nut and rosewater sounds (and looks) amazing. Perhaps some education with the servers about ingredients is in order to avoid unwanted lemon flavours!

    Reply
  6. Emma

    The food all looks delicious, shame it didn’t quite live up to expectations. I wonder if it can be put down to teething problems seeing as the restaurant itself is so new. I heard good things about the supper club!

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    The food was mainly tasty, the issue for me was inconsistent pricing and one inaccurate description coupled with the odd insistence of staff member about ingredients.

    Reply
  7. Linda

    We are always looking for restaurant suggestions. It does look like you tried a good variety of different dishes at Little Kolkata. It looks like you can order a bunch of dishes to share for the table. Although I did take note that you said that some were pretty small servings. Good to get your feedback on this place.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Most of the servings were fair except for that fish starter dish, which was crazy small. It’s the norm at Indian restaurants to order several dishes for the table to share.

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  8. Rosemary

    Really surprised to read about the negative experience with the waitress. In the U.S., where I’m from, that behavior is not tolerated…and especially after the owner confirms the use of lemon zest. Sounds like the place has lots of potential. Beyond the food and pricing, the staff needs an upgrade. Some of the dishes look great though 🙂

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    What was strange is that she was perfectly friendly and helpful through the meal, and she obviously had it in her head that there was no lemon, which is why it was so odd to discover later that we were, of course, right and there was. Lemon tastes nothing like turmeric!

    Reply
  9. kaveyeats

    Indian food varies hugely regionally, and it’s more common in UK and I’d say also in America to come across North Indian restaurants than those of other regions. And even then, a restricted set of dishes. But in London today there’s growing interest in and availablity of wider range of Indian food. ?

    Reply
  10. Priya

    Loved reading your honest review!
    I am always intrigued by Indian food places outside of India. I wonder how the food would compare with the actual regional cuisine in India.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    I think these days, in the new wave of London Indian restaurants, at least… very well!

    Reply
  11. Janine Thomas

    A truffle porota sounds really interesting. What a pity that you were not able to taste any truffle. That is something I I would also order out of sheer curiosity as well, being totally addicted to truffles.

    Reply
  12. sherianne

    Thank you for giving an honest review! The Murshidabadi Chicken Moghlai sounds yummy, such a bummer the rest was disappointing. Surprised the waitress had such a strong reaction to the lemon inquiry.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    That chicken was amazing! And we enjoyed the meal as a whole, but felt some were either not as good as they could be, or were great but overpriced.

    Reply
  13. Claire

    It is great to get an honest review of the restaurant, and although I love Indian food I don’t think I’d rush to dine here reading your thoughts. However, as you note positive things too if I’m in the area I might give it a try – goat curry is one of my favourite dishes!

    Reply
  14. Linda de Beer

    Dining at Little Kolkata sounds like an experience! The Murshidabadi Chicken Moghlai with the cashew nuts would definitely be my favourite. It’s a pity about your “sour” dessert! At least the baked sweet yoghurt made up for it.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Oh the lemon thing was super sweet, tooth-achingly so… the issue for us was that semolina halva has a distinct taste of its own, one we adore and rarely see, so it was a huge disappointment for that flavour to be utterly lost against the lemon…

    Reply
  15. kaveyeats

    I think it can be very successful — thinking of Darjeeling Express, for example and Sambal Shiok (which I’ve not been to yet). But it must be difficult to make the finances work when suddenly you have to pay high rents, business rates, staff and all the many costs involved in running a restaurant. I guess finding the right site and getting the menu and pricing right are key!

    Reply

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