It occurs to me that Mahalaya, which traditionally marks the beginning of Durga Pujo season in Bengal, is on Saturday, 10 October this year. Usually, there are few times of the year when Kolkata feels as collectively alive as it does during Durga Pujo. For five days, the city’s para or old, close-knit neighbourhoods, streets, and public spaces become stages for a shared cultural ritual: the grandeur of pandals, the camaraderie of strangers and neighbours alike queueing together for bhog, of friends criss-crossing the city in their Pujo bests, and people across communities participating in celebrations that belong as much to the public as they do to the goddess. It is this profoundly collectivist spirit — the idea that Pujo is something all of us share together — that transformed it from a religious festival into one of Kolkata’s defining cultural phenomena.

Naturally, much of that collective experience happens around food. Eating out during Pujo is less about celebrating a single, monolithic cuisine than about moving through the city and partaking in its many culinary identities, from the humble pice hotel and old-school Bengali kitchens to Tangra’s Chinese legacy, Kolkata’s potato-fied Biryani, contemporary Pan-Asian restaurants, to its ambitious new interpretations of regional food. Whether you’re looking for a plate of macher bhapa or steamed fish, a lavish Bengali feast, late-night drinks, or something entirely removed from tradition, Kolkata’s restaurants and bars offer their own ways of participating in the city’s greatest gathering. Here are some of the places worth eating your way through this Pujo:

A mainstay of Kolkata’s culinary landscape, pice hotels get their peculiar name from ‘pice’, the colonial English rendering of ‘paisa’—once the lowest denomination of British-Indian currency, worth 1/64th of a rupee. They emerged in the early 20th century as Bengal’s economy industrialised and migrant workers and students arrived in Kolkata (then Calcutta). Many lived in mess-bari or mess houses, whose communal kitchens eventually evolved into working-class eateries serving inexpensive, home-style meals.

Unlike the swanky European-style restaurants of Park Street and Chowringhee, pice hotels were run by the working class, for the working class, serving Bengali staples such as aloo posto, kumro phooler bhaja, bhetki paturi and macher bhapa. Their frugality extended to the kitchen: prioritising seasonal produce, using every part of an ingredient long before nose-to-tail became a marketing plank, and individually itemising consumables such as banana leaves, salt, and lemon. The owners and cooks decided the daily menu each morning according to what was available and affordable at the local market. Today, pice hotels like Sidheswari Ashram and Tarun Niketan remain among the best places in Kolkata to experience authentic Bengali cuisine. Learn more here.

For the ‘probashi’ or diasporic Bengalis who want a more elevated dining experience during their Durga Puja visit to Kolkata, there’s 6 Ballygunge Place. Named after the iconic address of its original Kolkata outlet in a century-old colonial mansion in South Kolkata, the modern Bengali restaurant developed its menu through serious archival work, drawing on Tagore family recipes and the forgotten larders of the Bengali gentry. The result is a robust menu where Ilish Bhapa (steamed Hilsa), Chitol Muithya (Indian featherback dumplings), and Chingri Malai Curry (Prawn Coconut Cream Curry) make the case that traditional Bengali cuisine can go toe-to-toe with any feted French provincial cuisine. The restaurant’s New Delhi outpost at Malviya Nagar is arguably the best place to have Bengali food in the national capital. Follow @6ballygungeplace on Instagram.

Zyqa’s ‘Pujor Bhoj’, a four-day celebration of Bengali festive flavours, features distinct menus for Saptami through Dashami. The festive menu spans classic Bengali comfort food and home-style favourites on Saptami; vegetarian bhog, or votive offering-inspired dishes and a non-vegetarian spread on Ashtami; a grand Zamindari, Mughlai, and Tangra-inspired feast on Nabami; and a traditional Bijoya spread on Dashami. The buffet features Bengali favourites including Sorshe Bhetki, Chingri Malai Curry, Thakurbarir Murgi Roast, Daab Chingri, Sorshe Ilish, Kosha Mangsho, Bhetki Paturi, Posto Murgi, Kolkata-style Biryani, Luchi, and Gobindobhog Ghee Bhat, alongside live counters serving Phoochka, Jhal Muri, Egg-Chicken Kathi Roll, Kolkata Fish Fry, Tangra-style Momos, Chaat, and Ghoogni. Desserts include Malai ChomChom, Misti Doi, Malpua with Rabri, Baked Rosogolla, Kachagolla, Baked Mihidana, Channer Jalebi, mousse cups, and Chocolate Paan. Available at Zyqa, 1st Floor, Aauris Hotel, 4 Robinson Street, Mullick Bazar, for lunch and dinner from 16 to 19 October. ₹1,499 for food only; ₹2,799 with alcohol. Follow @zyqa_aauris on Instagram.

This Pujo, Master Jackie is serving up a festive feast rooted in bold Kolkata-Chinese flavours, with a menu of wok-tossed Asian flavours and local ingredients. Starters include Stir-Fried Water Chestnut in Chilli Plum Sauce, Stuffed Mushroom with Salt and Pepper, Fish in Chilli Mustard Sauce made with Kolkata bhetki, and Indo Chilli Chicken, while mains range from Aubergine in Hot Bean Sauce and Chinese Greens, Tofu & Edamame in Garlic Sauce to Sweet and Sour Fish, Taichin Chicken, Sliced Pork with Pak Choy in Garlic Sauce, and Sliced Fish in Chilli Oyster Sauce. The dessert menu rounds out with Toffee Walnut with Vanilla Ice Cream, alongside festive drinks including Gondhoraj Basil Gin & Tonic and Gondhoraj Lemonade. Available from 1 October to the end of October, daily from 12 PM to 12 AM, at Unit No. 2, Ground Floor, 1 Edward Court 55, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, behind Roots, Elgin. ₹1,200–1,500 for two, without alcohol. Follow @masterjackiecalcutta on Instagram.

Tucked into 21B Hindustan Road in South Kolkata, Amar Khamar Lunchroom is an intimate dining space built around the idea that the best Bengali cooking has always happened at home. Open Tuesday through Sunday, it serves seasonal, home-style meals sourced from farming communities across Bengal — think heirloom rice, hand-pounded spices, and hyperlocal produce. Their signature ‘Chhuti-r Bhat’ tasting menu is the centrepiece of the experience: a long, indulgent, course-by-course meal rooted in the rhythms of a traditional Sunday family meal at a Bengali household. Address: 21B, Hindustan Rd, Ballygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal 700029. Follow @amarkhamar on Instagram.

One of Kolkata’s newer restaurants which has quickly become a favourite, Yokocho takes its cues from Japan’s drinking alleys, where hole-in-the-wall izakaya or small-plate bars, smokey grills, and animated conversations with friends and co-workers spill into the night. Chef Auroni Mookerjee expands that idea across Asia, drawing on India’s khau gallis, Hong Kong’s dai pai dongs, Singapore’s hawker centres, and Vietnam’s street-food culture. The result is a lively, cross-cultural menu that brings Kolkata’s markets into conversation with East and Southeast Asian flavours. Follow @yokocho.cal on Instagram.

Tua & Synthe unite bold Pan-Asian cuisine, immersive mixology and experience-led hospitality for the modern urban diner. Chef Vaibhav Bhargava’s menu blends refined techniques and premium ingredients in dishes such as 24-hour marinated Miso Salmon, Japanese Cold Avocado Pizza with truffle mayo and tanuki crunch, King Oyster Mushrooms in yuzu gochujang, Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, and signature Hazelnut Kung Pao Chicken, alongside small plates and bar bites.

At Synthe, guests surrender the usual freedom of choosing from a long cocktail menu. Created by beverage consultant Ankur Chawla, the cocktail programme features an 11-cocktail omakase with 22 curated small plates, where each cocktail represents a different chapter in an imagined future. The experience moves decade by decade, from 2030 to 2110, structured into four chapters: Curiosity, Connection, Freedom, and After Midnight, with era-specific drinks like Appetite for More, Been There Done That, Controlled Chaos, Tough to Be Simple and Cherry on the Top, turning mixology into a futuristic dialogue between flavour and imagination. Follow @tua_dancedine and @synthe__official on Instagram.

No guide to Kolkata could be complete without a nod to Kolkata Biryani, and few do it better than Arsalan. Don’t listen to naysayers who say otherwise. Head to Aminia at Park Circus and see — taste — for yourself. Order the mutton special biryani which comes with two pieces of fall-off-the-bone goat meat, a hard-boiled egg, and one large potato boiled in yakhni — a tell-tale signature of Kolkata Biryani. Follow @arsalanrestaurantandcaterer on Instagram.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list of restaurants and bars in Kolkata. It does not include establishments like Peter Cat, Mocambo, and Trincas in Park Street; old school Indo-Chinese haunts like Eau Chew, Tai Sen Eating House, and Jimmy’s Kitchen; and newers destinations like AM PM, Nutcase, and many others. But that shouldn’t stop you from heading to any of these places. Durga Pujo is a season for celebration. Come to Kolkata. Call your friends. Go out and explore the city. Who knows? You might even discover your next favourite haunt that has not appeared on any list yet!

If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:

The Ultimate Durga Pujo 2025 Guide To Kolkata: Best Pandals, Street-Food, & Festive Hangouts

Bonedi Bari-r Pujo: Experience The Gilded Allure Of Kolkata’s Founding Families’ Durga Pujas

How Generations Of Kumartuli’s Artisans Have Crafted A Culture Of Devotion For Durga Puja