From Chole Bhature to Sandwiches — A Saturday Lunch Plot Twist

Another Saturday noon and we suddenly realised that it was probably a little too late to actually put a meal together at home.

So, as is customary in such situations, my wife turned to me and asked the all-important question:

“What would you like to have for lunch?”

For some inexplicable reason, Chole Bhature had somehow lodged itself firmly inside my head. No idea why. No particular craving before that. But once the thought arrived, there was no getting rid of it.

So I suggested we head to the food court at Acropolis Mall.

My wife, however, seemed to think that going all the way to a mall just for lunch was a bit too much effort. She then reminded me of Govindam Pure Veg Restaurant, a place we'd driven past countless times. We'd often wondered, “Will we ever actually go there for a meal?”

Well, apparently not that day either.

We got dressed and headed out.

And then came the first twist.

As we stepped into the lift, an image of Sandwiches suddenly popped into my head.

Not Chole Bhature.

Not Govindam.

Sandwiches.

And as though some strange form of husband-wife telepathy had kicked in, my wife suddenly looked at me and asked:

“Are you sure you don't want sandwiches?”

My head exploded.

I looked at her with the most exaggerated pair of googly-woogly eyes I could manage and asked her if she had somehow been inside my head because I had literally just been thinking about sandwiches.

We both burst out laughing.

And somewhere between our apartment door and the ground floor, the lunch decision had completely changed.

Sandwiches it was.

By the time we got into the car, my wife had already decided on a place. It was new, and she wanted to try it out.

So the destination went into Google Maps, the route was plotted, and within seconds the first voice instructions came over the car speakers, directing us towards Dobby.

We reached Dobby, my wife hopped out and went in while I had to perform the slightly more complicated operation of finding somewhere to park.

Fortunately, I managed to squeeze the car in quite cleverly, helped enormously by the pandal structure opposite, which had already managed to occupy a good chunk of the carriageway.

Durga Puja is nearly upon us.

And yet, strangely, I don't quite sense that mad frenzy in the air that usually precedes Puja in Kolkata.

But that's a completely separate matter altogether.

I had a growling tummy.

So I joined her inside.

The menu was refreshingly compact.

Just the way I like it.

Do a few things, do them well.

That's always been my philosophy when it comes to food menus. When a place has pages and pages of things to choose from, I usually start wondering whether they really do any of them particularly well.

This wasn't one of those places.

It didn't take me long to zoom in on my choice:

Next Level Chick Sandwich and Salted Caramel Cold Coffee.

Decision made.

I'm quite decisive when it comes to ordering.

My wife, on the other hand, took her time, went through the options and eventually settled on the Caprese Sandwich, Salted Fries and Biscotella Shake.

Now ideally, the drinks order should have been the other way around.

But occasionally I like to mix things up.

There was a bit of a fiasco with the card machine when we were ordering and paying. But considering this was a newly opened place, these are exactly the sort of teething problems one expects.

Nothing that couldn't be sorted.

And sorted it was the moment the owners arrived.

But what really caught my attention was what happened before all that.

Our first sandwich and drink arrived.

Then the fries.

And this was minutes after placing the order.

Now, isn't that what QSR is supposed to mean?

Quick Service Restaurant.

Some of the big fast-food brands that built their reputations on being fast food could probably take a few cues from this place.

Because this wasn't even calling itself a fast-food joint.

It calls itself a Gourmet Sandwich place.

And yet the food was flying out of the kitchen.

I was impressed.

Then came the moment of truth.

I took my first bite of the Chicken Sandwich.

And my tastebuds got confused.

Not in a bad way.

It was tasty. Very tasty, actually.

But my brain wasn't quite sure what it was tasting.

The menu had mentioned the Bengali influence, but somehow my senses were all over the place. You know how your mind associates a particular flavour profile with a particular cuisine? Your brain expects that taste, but your palate suddenly experiences something else.

And then there is that moment of:

“Hang on… what exactly am I tasting?”

I guess the fault was partly mine.

I had preconditioned myself to expect a particular taste.

But thankfully, that didn't stop me from devouring the sandwich.

The chicken inside was succulent, and before long there wasn't much left to analyse.

Just an empty plate.

The fries arrived fresh as well.

And these were proper fresh potato fries, rather than the packaged, uniform fries that have become so familiar at many fast-food joints.

Then came the Caprese Sandwich.

In fact, it arrived while I was still busy with my chicken sandwich.

And despite being completely vegetarian, it was absolutely scrumptious.

Delicious, fresh and very satisfying.

The drinks also delivered exactly what they promised.

And then came the moment of truth for the Biscotella Shake.

I took a sip.

Yep.

Perfect.

By now, regular readers will know that I have some rather exacting standards when it comes to that particular drink.

So when I say it passed the test, that's saying something.

We eventually finished our lunch and were sitting around when the owners, who had been busy chatting with an influencer about her promotion plans and such, came over to us.

They wanted to know what we thought.

And then came the slightly terrifying bit.

They wanted our feedback on camera.

I resisted.

Naturally.

My wife, naturally, encouraged me.

And then, well...

What exactly do you expect from chatty ol' me?

The floodgates opened.

Feedback was shared.

Suggestions were given.

Opinions were expressed.

And somewhere along the way, what started as a quick lunch turned into a mini feedback session.

We congratulated them on the new venture and wished them all the very best for the upcoming Puja season.

Then we paid the bill, walked back to the car and headed off.

And just like that, our Saturday lunch journey had gone from Chole Bhature → Govindam → Sandwich Telepathy → Dobby → Gourmet Sandwiches.

Not quite the lunch we'd planned.

But then again, that's often the fun of a Saturday in Kolkata.

You leave home looking for one thing...

…and sometimes the city, or your wife, has something completely different in mind.