Kolkata's College Street Coffee House back in new avatar, nostalgia on menu

Nothing sells more than nostalgia in Kolkata. Perhaps a close competitor is fish kabiraji, if the demand for this local version of the coverage cutlet is anything to go by at the recently inaugurated New Town Coffee House.
 

The property, managed by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), has tried to re-package the nostalgic elements of the iconic College Street Coffee House.
 

It has retained the menu and its dirt cheap rates, while the interiors — high ceilings, stooping fans — and a similar uniform of the staff are also a tribute to the old Coffee House that was set up in the 1930s and occupies a special place in the city.

Be it Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee or Sunil Ganguly, many of Kolkata's stalwarts have Coffee House stories associated with them, a reminder of its status as a site where the youth spent their best years and where many a movement brewed.
 

The old building, graffiti and easy access are all part of the Coffee House package. It was inevitable for the New Town version to invite scrutiny and outrage.

 

So when photos of the snazzy structure with glass exterior emerged, a Facebook page popular with the university crowd lamented that its “high-end mall” look.
 

That, however, has not deterred curious customers from queuing up. The 96-seater café hosted more than 2,000 visitors in the first three days.
 

On weekends, there were more than 600 visitors, necessitating an elaborate token system and even police presence to manage the crowd.
 

“We are overwhelmed by the response. But our principle is not to rush any guest. We are adhering to the ethos of Coffee House ensuring that people can relax and have a good time,” says Sudeep Chatterjee, operations manager.
 

After an aborted Sunday evening attempt, Business Standard went two days later at noon, only to be shocked to see a packed café yet again. But the queue was short. In the tables across the room were college groups, young professionals and families.

Rabin Kumar Moitra, a retired government official, and schoolteacher Aparna Moitra, were Coffee House regulars during their college days in the '70s. “As a resident of New Town now, we felt this was a nice chance to relive our memories. But we were frustrated and angry when we could not make it on the first day,” says Moitra.
 

They were eventually having a good time telling stories to their grandchildren. If nostalgia was a universal draw, not everybody was pleased with air-conditioning.
 

The music was evidently jarring, including Manna Dey’s ode to Coffee House that was being played like one would in a pub.

New Town serves the same food as the College Street venue, but better. We ordered the classics — a cup of infusion (Rs 20), fish kabiraji (Rs 140), fish fry (Rs 120) and a chicken sandwich (Rs 90).
 

One tends to dread the kabiraji with age for its oily texture and fried egg frills. But here, it was served just right. The fry is consistent; its texture crisp and the coating with the sparely present chillies has remained a favourite. The feedback on food was generally positive, though some people lamented the absence of some classics like Mutton Afghani.
 

“We have been asked about some of these dishes and plan to incorporate them and expand our menu soon,” Chatterjee promises.
 

• New Town Coffee House seats 96 at a time
• This is HIDCO project
• India Coffee House in College Street started in 1936 is run by Indian Coffee Worker's co-operative society
• What we liked
• Spacious interiors
• Old school aesthetics
• Fish kabiraji
• What we didn’t
• The constant music