99, Southern Avenue, Kolkata Chinese Restaurant

Restaurant Name: 99, Southern Avenue, Kolkata
Phone: +916289427433, +919830306192
Address: Ground floor, 122 B, Southern Avenue, below What’s Up Cafe, Golpark, Hindustan Park, Gariahat, Kolkata, West Bengal 700029 India
Time: 12:00 Noon – 11:30 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 500
Cuisines: Chinese, Fast Food, North Indian
Facilities: Home Delivery, Free Parking, Indoor Seating

We Bengalis are a very innovative bunch when it comes to celebrations. A Poila Boishakh or Bengali New Year, for example, is celebrated with a concept of what I call a “roll over” menu. You either roll over from cuisine to cuisine and fit in everything within this one auspicious day or sometimes stretching over a long weekend; or easier still, roll over yourselves from one satiated meal to another, including a bizarre repertoire in exuberant glee! This year, I have discovered a perfect “combo” – a way to combine the best of both these experiences without even stepping out of the house and by merely lifting a finger or two. And all within the comfort of incredible double digit pricing. 99, the happiness cafe on Southern Avenue introduces the thrill of everything at ₹ 99 with a popular line up of Kolkata favourites. With bright and cheerful ambience, fresh QSR format, post-COVID hygiene norms they offer both dine-in and delivery, though delivery is preferable to avoid waiting.

99, Southern Avenue, Kolkata: Food

The menu has an easy-breezy feel; one that gives you the confidence of ordering one of each type. That can effortlessly extend to a whole day of stressfree bingeing. We follow an amazing pace of ordering paneer bhurjee with paratha combo (₹ 99) and Murshibadi aloo dum (₹ 99) for breakfast, move on to chicken hakka chowmein (₹ 99) and chilli fish in gravy (₹ 99) for lunch and giddy over to early evening snack of paneer mustard cutlet (₹ 99), fried fish & chips (₹ 99) and fried chicken (₹ 99). And for dinner, we brace ourselves with a chicken pizza (₹ 99) and strawberry milkshake (₹ 99). In case you are wondering if there’s more on the menu, of course there’s chicken biryani, grilled sandwiches and house special Vietnamese egg coffee, also available.

99, Southern Avenue, Kolkata: Plus & Minus

The home delivery comes with simple and practical sealed butter-paper bags for the fries, mini cardboard pizza box and disposable heat healed plastic containers for the rest. Though there’s a slight leakage and messy gravy, the food makes up for it with warmth and freshness. The griddle fried, crisp – outside, soft – inside layered Bengali style parathas go well with baby potatoes aloo dum, simmered in rich and creamy gravy and the perky scrambled paneer bhurjee. The Indian street-style, smoky, wok-fried Chinese noodles with shredded veggies and chicken and spiked up heat of the chilli infused Basa fish in soy gravy, make a perfect oriental lunch mix. But it is actually the crumb fries at snack time – basa and French fries for fish and chips with mustard mayo, the luscious chicken fries and the fat cottage cheese or paneer batons slathered in kasundi, deep fried with bread crumbs served with ketchup and mustard dip – that make a drool worthy evening. Finally, the homely mini pizza with cheese, onions and chicken toppings is a cute effort of improvisation and the pink slurry sweetness of the strawberry milkshake brings a flavorsome cool.