Amber , 11 Waterloo St tel 033/248 6520. Quality restaurant serving absolutely superb Mughlai and tandoori cooking. Plush and dimly lit, it covers three floors, and has a bar downstairs.
Anand , 19 Chittaranjan Ave. South Indian snacks as well as veggie-burgers and milkshakes.
Eau Chew , P-32 Mission Row Extension, Ganesh Chandra Avenue tel 033/237 8260. A Chinese family-run restaurant above a petrol station. Excellent food but the best dishes like the Chimney Soup are off the menu and best ordered in advance.
Golden Harvest , 11/1 Sarat Bose Rd near Minto Park tel 033/247 0294. Upmarket restaurant serving excellent Chinese and Indian food from lunchtime till late.
Hare Krishna Bakery , ISKCON, 3C Albert Rd. A great little bakery run by the Hare Krishna sect; serves good brown bread.
India Coffee House , College Street. Atmospheric historic café in the heart of the university area where students and intellectuals continue to meet.
Jimmy's Kitchen , AJC Bose Road and Shakespeare Sarani crossing. An old favourite and a justifiably popular Chinese restaurant with specialities such as mandarin fish.
Jyoti Vihar , 3A Ho Chi Minh Sarani. Inexpensive and deservedly popular a/c south Indian café near the US Consulate, which gets packed at lunchtime.
Kewpie's Kitchen , 2 Elgin Lane tel 033/475 9880. A home with a restaurant annexe. A Bengali feast fit for the jamai babu (son-in-law) first entering his wife's home - try their lucci (puris) and the fish and prawn preparations including rui kalia, ilisher bhapa, malai chingri (prawns in cream) and dab-er-chingri (prawns in a green coconut).
Mainland China , Uniworth House, 3A Gurusaday Rd tel 033/287 2006. Popular new restaurant serving excellent Chinese food in plush surroundings; it's being expanded to include a disco. Book ahead.
Manthan , 3 Waterloo St. Versatile mid-priced restaurant somewhat overshadowed by its illustrious neighbour, Amber , down the road.
Royal , near Nakhoda Masjid, Rabindra Sarani. Although it has seen better days, this legendary restaurant still serves up good Muslim cuisine; try the chicken champ (Thursdays only) and rumali roti or the biryani.
Sabir's , Chandni Chowk. Traditional, tasty but very rich Muslim cooking behind the market. Try their razala - an aromatic meat curry.
Scoop , 71 Strand Rd, Man-o-War Jetty. The pleasant riverside location rather than the food recommends this snack bar; renowned for its extravagant ice creams, it also serves pizzas. Crowded in the evenings and at weekends.
Suruchi , 89 Elliot Rd. Run by the All Bengal Women's Union - a charity for rehabilitated prostitutes and their children - and one of the few places you can sample authentic Bengali cooking. Unpretentious atmosphere and very reasonable prices; highly recommended. Look out for macher jhol (fish stew). Closed Sat and Sun evenings.
