Roll Model

Meal for two:

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hich is the best place for kathi kabab rolls in Calcutta? For 75 years there was only one answer: Nizam’s. But, alas, after its trade union problems, Nizam’s hasn’t been the same. Meanwhile, challengers like Hot Kathi, Badshah, Kusum, Zeeshan and Bedouin have emerged, each with its own loyalists. How the kathi roll was invented is a story as fascinating as the story of the hot dog or the ice-cream cone: one day in the 1920s the enterprising owner of Nizam’s rolled his kababs into a crisp egg paratha, wrapped it neatly in tissue, secured it with a toothpick, and offered it to a finicky English customer.

Thus a legend was born, and kathi rolls have arguably become Calcutta’s second most famous delicacy (a distant second to maachher jhol, of course). After its reopening, Nizam’s has somehow lost its soul. Standards have slipped and its no-frills authenticity has been replaced by a decor like an Omar Khayyam nightmare. So, reluctantly, we’ve switched our allegiance to the nearby UP Bihar, run by ex-Nizam staff. It may be downmarket and grungy, but it’s authentic. And the kathi rolls are super.