Having worked in Park Street locality for more than a decade I have for sure almost been to all the restaurants, hotels and roadside eateries. Amongst all of the varieties of local, national and international brand shops my favourite is the good old Cha Bar located inside Oxford Bookstore in Kolkata. Since for the last two years I have stopped bringing lunch from home due to a logistical issue I have shifted to having light working lunch and my favourite is to grab a sandwich from Cha Bar most of the days.
It was my privilege when I joined a group of esteemed bloggers from the city to try out the newly revamped menu of Cha Bar on 20th of October 2016. The list of bloggers included who’s who of the blogging circuit in the city. Amongst all of them perhaps I was the youngest when it comes to blogging thus all the time I was watching how the seniors do what they are expert in.
We were welcomed by Ms Nilanjana Dey (PR of the store) and within a short time was joined by Mr Nitin Warikoo (Head – Cha Bar) who flew all the way from New Delhi just to attend this bloggers meet and had reached straight from the airport. After a couple of welcome drinks which was open to the choice we were given the menu for the evening.
The new menu was introduced a couple of weeks back and after initial rounds, the bloggers were invited to check them out. The new menu does not mean a complete revamp of the existing menu but in fact the addition of new items and retiring a couple of old ones. The menu for the evening was beautifully wrapped in red ribbon and handed over to us.
The first item for the evening was Smoked Chicken and Mustard Sandwich. This one I had already tasted before as mentioned earlier I keep coming to this place for fixing a snack. These are not grilled but I would suggest you ask them to be slightly grilled while ordering. The amount of shredded chicken would surprise you, along with the mayo and mustard this sandwich creates the perfect balance of taste and sense of fulfilment.
If you are from Kolkata then I am sure you are not new to Rolls and for the rest of India, you might know it by other names such as Frankie, Wraps etc. The next on the menu was Chilli Chicken Wrap, instead of the typical chicken Kati Kebabs this roll has a surprise element attached to it, a roll with a Chinese twist. The chicken bits are generously mixed with a sauce which sometimes throws up a sweet element making this wrap really different from the rest. The wrap is soft and mushy making it light to eat yet very filling.
Burgers are my all-time favourite, I still remember the days when my mother used to pack homemade burgers for school tiffin and I used to eagerly wait for tiffin break to gobble them down. In Park Street, there are the big boys such as MacD and KFC who tend to dominate the burger lovers but I would recommend them to try these. We were served two varieties the egg (Bun Omelette) with tomato sauce and the mutton (Bun Tikka) with a mint chutney. I am not an egg lover thus tried the Bun Tikka and I have to confess that they were so irresistible that I had two of them.
Recently I have been doing rounds around the city in search of the best club sandwich and my search for the best chicken club sandwich came to an end at Cha Bar with the Celery Chicken Club sandwich. If you and looking for the chicken only club sandwich prepared fresh and not microwaved from a freezer then look no further. The cream and mayo used in this sandwich make it a real smooth talker, simply just melts in your mouth. Supplied with ample amount of French fries this is good enough for two to share easily.
Like the burgers reminded me of the school days the cheese toasts reminded me of my college days when a friend of mine used to bring them as tiffin and it was not him but I and some other buddies used to devour them. The cheese toasts out here in Cha Bar were called Three Chilli Cheese Toasties since these had the green, yellow and red flakes hidden amongst the mountain of cheese. If you are a cheese lover then this is definitely for you.
The last but not the least item on the menu was Barbequed Chicken Sausages. I and sausages have a long term relationship and this I am sure will remain forever. This is for the very first time that I had sausages prepared in barbeque sauce and I am in love with them. This is one item of the menu that I would like to replicate back in my home.
I am a human being after all and this is the maximum that I could taste for the evening. I was so full that I had to skip the dinner for the evening. It was a wonderful bloggers meet, an evening where I could do what I love to do that is to eat and also to get the company of eminent bloggers such as Rangan Dutta, Sumit Surai, Sammya Brata Mullick, Muhua Roy, Debjani Chatterjee Alam, Indrajit Lahiri, Devpurna Talapatra, Anirban Halder and Kriti Mahima.
The last surprise of the evening was the gift from Typhoo tea, a box full of exotic tea bags. I am a teetotaller and this box was like a treasure trove for me. Thank you Cha Bar for the bloggers meet and thank you Typhoo for the gift.
New Inclusions in the Cha Bar Menu
Tomato Cottage Cheese Salad – Rs. 100
Spiced Mint Chutney and Cottage Cheese Sandwich – Rs. 110
Basil Pesto and Grilled Vegetable Sandwich – Rs. 110
Celery Chicken Club Sandwich – Rs. 110
English Tea Sandwich – Rs. 110
Smoked Chicken And Mustard – Rs. 110
Cucumber and Cream Cheese – Rs. 110
Paneer Khurchan Rolls – Rs. 110
Chilli Chicken Wrap – Rs. 110
Cha Toast – Rs. 60
Cha Piazi – Rs. 60
Chilli Cheese Toasties – Rs. 80
Three Chilli Cheese Toasties – Rs. 80
Barbequed Chicken Sausages – Rs. 100
Cha Samosa – Rs. 70
Samosa Sandwich – Rs. 70
Bun Maska – Rs. 60
Bun Tikka – Rs. 60
Bun Kebab – Rs. 60
Bun Omelette – Rs. 60
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