Kebab-e-Que at Hotel Astor is well known for it’s kebabs and we have been aiming to try this place out since the begining of time.
Finally we got an oppurtunity to visit Kebab-e-Que a few days back. 11 of us headed to this place with some really great expectations and to be honest, we weren’t really disappointed.
Special mention to Mr.Dibyendu who took great care in serving us! He did an amazing job.😁
My experience summed up in 6 Points (For those who don’t want to go through a long detailed review):
●Ambience : 3.75/5
●Food : 3.85/5 (Rating solely based on the tried food only).
●Quantity: 3.75/5.
●Value for money: 4/5.
●Hospitality and Service: 4.5/5. [There was a wedding function going on but the staff members made sure to not let that affect our experience at all!]
■OVERALL RATING:3.875/5 ~ 4/5.
FOR A DETAILED REVIEW, PLEASE KEEP READING.😊
Coming to how our taste buds reacted to everything we ate 😁
●STARTERS.
1) Cheese cherry pineapple @Rs.225.00, Taste Rate 3.75/5 : We started off with this unusual combination of things which i never thought I’d try together but since my uncle insisted on trying it, we decided to give it a shot. What came in was a bowl full of ice cubes with toothpicks each of which were pierced through a slice of pineapple, a cherry and a small cube of amul cheese. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole plan of trying this but my idea changed after my first serving! It was so good!😍 The pineapple gave a sweetish zing while the cherry helped to balance the sweet counterpart and the tart flavour from the cheese stabilised the flavours! What an amazing amalgamation of piquancy!
2) Asorted Kebab Platter @Rs.765.00, Taste Rate : 4/5!
The kebab platter consisted of the following [2 portions of each],
▪Cheesy Murgh Khasnama Tangdi (4.75/5) : Hands down! One the best tangdi kebabs I have had in Kolkata! It was brilliant. The tangdi was stuffed with oozing cheese and awadhi spices. The aromatic spices when combined with cheese and khoya (which gave a sweetish tinge) helped to produce a stunning blend of flavours. Loved it!
▪Mutton Seekh Kebab (3.25/5): Minced mutton cylindrically wrapped around a seekh i.e. a skewer and grilled over charcoal. Mutton seekh kebabs are usually supposed to be juicy and tender. The ones served here were moderately juicy but the minced muttom was a bit too smooth for my liking. I would have preferred it a bit more uneven in order to get a meatier texture. No complaints in the flavour department, though.
▪Makhmali Jheenga / Tandoori Prawns (3.75/5) : Prawn marinated in tandoori masala and then tandoored. The prawns were pretty fresh but a bit more fishy taste would have been appreciated.
▪Lasooni Mahi Tikka (4.25/5) : Chunks of fresh bhetki/Asian sea bass spiced with a hint of burnt garlic and then cooked till lightly charred. These were very much undercooked when they first got these in but on bringing this to their notice, they changed it immediately. The fish was perfectly cooked this time and was superbly flaky inside. The usage of minimal masala made sure to not squash the freshness and natural flavour of the fish.
●MAIN COURSE.
3) Murgh Tikka Masala @Rs.435.00, Taste Rate 3.25/5 : Zomato clearly recommended this dish hence I decided to order it. I think there were 4 to 6 large pieces of boneless chicken which were immersed in a silky piquant gravy. The only letdown was the pungency acquired from the over usage of ajwain/Trachyspermum ammi (as far as I could guess from the flavours) which completely ruined the dish for me.
4) Murgh Awadhi Biryani @Rs.385.00 and
5) Gosht Awadhi Biryani @Rs.465.00, Taste Rate 4/5 : This isn’t close to how Kolkata biryani tastes but the sensations our tastebuds encountered after having this, were indeed pleasant. Independent grains of rice cooked beautifully with spices and meat juices in a handi (earthen pot). Both the mutton and chicken were nicely cooked. Surprisingly, they served a potato with this dish, which is very rare when it comes to Awadhi biryani.
6) Rara Gosht @Rs.495.00, Taste Rate 4.25/5 : Rara Gosht was very nicely prepared! Having it’s roots in Patiala, this dish consists of mutton cooked with robust masalas and mutton kheema over low flame until every components gets combined to produce a masterpiece! Loved it. (There were 3 pieces of mutton).
7) Railway mutton curry @Rs.495.00, Taste rate 2/5 : This dish was such a let down. Even though the meat was kinda soft and moist, the whol dish lacked the punch of flavours. Some unrecognised masala totally overpowered the curry. The dish Tasted like thick tasteless curry mixed with that particular spice only. Railway mutton curry consisted of 3 pieces of mutton and a piece of egg.
8) Fish and Chips @Rs.380.00, Taste Rate 4.25/5 : Usually when we hear this specific term, we visualise the English fish and chips where the fish is batter fried to perfection. Well, my dear friend! Kebab-e-Que has decided to maintain it’s bengali tradition of making ‘Fish Fry’. 2 thick fillets of bhekti (Asian sea bass) marinated with minimal amount of spices and then crumb fried to excellence. The fish fries were accompanied by superbly crisp french fries and droolicious tartar sauce (I licked the bowl clean!🤣).
●BREADS.
9) Plain Naan @Rs.95.00, Taste Rate 4/5 : The Naans served here were surprisingly different to taste. There wasn’t any significant flavour to it but the whole thing was so nice to the taste buds! Soft and fluffy and so goood!😍
10) Laccha Paratha @Rs.95.00, Taste Rate 4/5 : Well fried, crispy and flaky! Really good.😍
●DESSERTS.
11) Chocolate Mousse @Rs.235.00, Taste Rate 4.95/5 : One word – Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! The best chocolate mousse I have had in a long looooonnnng time. So smooth! Since it was made of dark chocolate, it wasn’t too high on sugar either and that brought in a very subtle flavour. My soul never felt so happy before trying this. Yes, the chocolate mousse was that fantabulous. 😘
12) Orange Caramel Custard @Rs.235.00, Taste Rate 3.85/5 : The custard looked beautiful when it was served. It was pretty good in terms of taste. The sweet custard combined with the bitter caramel and tart orange flavour really brought out something interesting to the palate. I have had better, though.
●BEVERAGES:
13) Fresh Lime Soda @Rs.185.00, Taste Rate 4/5 : Fresh lime soda came in with an interesting infusion of Gondhoraaj Lebu (Kaffir lime – A cross between a lemon and a Mandarin orange). It was really very refreshing.
14) Peach Iced tea @Rs.225.00, Taste Rate 4/5 : Really good!
15) Apple Iced tea @Rs.225.00, Taste Rate 3.5/5: This one was pretty good as well but when compared to the peach iced tea, it didn’t have as much impact as the former.
We paid a total of Rs.8680.00 (including 5% gst) for 11 people! Considering the quality of the food, 789 bucks per person is quite a good deal.
Recommended.✌😋🤗
Happy eating.❤❤
Eat.Salivate.Repeat.💗
Stay beautiful. 🙈💓
[P.S. Follow me on Instagram for delicious food picture updates every other day. Find me with the username the.gastronomical.voyage ]
The.Gastronomical.Voyage 
Next time you visit ‘The Astor’, try their Red Sauce Pasta. I don’t have a strong and balanced pallette like yours, but they make a mean red sauce pasta with subtly balanced flavours of parmesan (and I guess white wine). At least I’d loved it, but that was a couple of years back.
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Oh for sure! I’ll definitely try it.😁😁
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