The Fat Little Penguin, Ballygunge, Kolkata

Restaurant Name: The Fat Little Penguin, Ballygunge, Kolkata
Phone: +919654531646
Address: Tanushree Dance Academy, 11C Palm Avenue, Ballygunge Ashok Tower Building, Kolkata, West Bengal 700019 India
Time: 11:00 AM – 09:00 PM
Meals for two: ₹ 200
Cuisines: Desserts, Belgian, Beverages
Facilities: Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Desserts and Bakes, No Seating Available

What’s in a mix? Well, apparently everything! Ask Chef Jayatri Biswas, one of the pandemic queens who conquered the difficult times with her passion for everything soft, sweet and artsy. Her The Fat Little Penguin is the craziest sweet triumph of taste and turbulence flavour bombing it’s way into our lives with intense fervor, in its third year.

The journey of artisanal ice creams is fairly new in India. Unique,indulgent and boutique,they mostly come hand-churned in small batches with real ingredients sourced from origin. Mindful experimenting, balancing out richness in milk and cream entwined with opposite ingredients is all science, art and creative pursuit. So, mixing occurs naturally and is child’s play to Jayatri and her tribe, when it comes to the flavour palette. You’re welcome to take a peek into their latest adventures behind the scenes, on their weekend pop ups through May, between 4 pm and 11 pm, at their cloud kitchen address in Palm Avenue. I’m told it’s raining flavours, with the likes of Smoked vanilla, Lavender passionfruit, Kokum kala khatta, Caramelized white chocolate and Coffee caramel and the very maverick, Bandel cheese and tomato jam.

The Fat Little Penguin, Ballygunge, Kolkata: Food

The collection is limited. Well, logically; to seasons as well as small batches,as and when fresh ingredients are available. With sun-kissed vanilla pods out of Kerala, lusciousness of Ratnagiri mangoes from Maharashtra and Kokum from the wild forests of the Western Ghats,no one is complaining. The ordering is a bit of a process, like with everything haute and gourmet. The aggregators bring home tiny tubs of 115 ml, that serve one,the online ordering site by the same name as the company can take pre-orders for 250 ml or 500 ml tubs or pints and gift packs of multiples. They are quite active on WhatsApp. We use both the website and the aggregators’ delivery to order 250 ml tubs of Raw mango chilli (₹ 250), Tarty lemon (₹ 290), Blueberries and cream (₹ 375), Brownie points (₹ 290); single helpings of Hazel crazel (₹ 180), Mango cheesecake (₹180), sugar-free Vanilla sea salt caramel (₹ 150), Ice cream sandwich of dark chocolate (₹ 180) and Coffee sandwich (₹ 180); and finally a box of Ice cream bon bon 12 pieces (₹ 950) on the website.

Plus & Minus:

First things first. Yes, prompted to be healthier, preservative-free and pure in seasonal hand-picked ingredients when compared to the commercial ice cream giants and frozen desserts, they are doing their bit for keto friendly, sugar free and sometimes even vegan, gluten-free and lactose-intolerant versions on request. Call them traditionalist but their ice creams are made of full fat richness of milk and cream with milk fat upto 15%, and egg, where necessary. Our tropical summer begins with the mouth-puckering raw mango and red chilli sprinkled sorbet, true to the tongue. The whole blueberries in milky velvety sweetness, the chunky brownie bites in chocolate heaven and the hand-roasted hazelnuts with craggy praline delights in Hazel crazel bring us to an ice cream plateau. While the subtle, summary creamy textures of lemon rinds and short cake in Tarty lemon, the bliss of slurpy freshness of mango, in the Mango cheesecake and the salty-sweetness of caramel and sea-salt infused sugar-free vanilla are bang-on seasonal peaks. The dominant coffee and the devilish dark chocolate between chocolate-dipped biscuits in the sandwiches make a charming innovation, but the oomphish dark chocolate-coated bonbons steal our hearts – in flavours of mischievous mint, oblivious orange and a heartwarming brown butter almond crunch! I’m awaiting their flirtatious flaunts of ice cream cakes in Baked Alaska (₹ 1,700) and Salted caramel praline (₹ 1,800).