Kurseong Food Tour
Kurseong, a subdivision of Darjeeling is another beautiful hill station that boasts of magnificent mountain views, beautiful rolling tea gardens, lush forests, pleasant weather and friendly locals. It is named after a white orchid that grows here in abundance. The street food scene is pretty vibrant and dominated by mostly comforting or zesty flavours. Let's tell you about the places that we had explored during our visit.
33 DREAM CAFE
39 Hill Cart Road
It is an enchanting restaurant conceived by a young entrepreneur Choephell who wishes to inspire people to live their dream. It is a lively and positive space adorned with paintings, photos, artefacts and inspiring quotes. Here we had a comforting bowl of chicken ramen, some juicy chicken steamed momo and a brilliant finger millet pancake.
SAHU CHOP SHOP
Haat Bazaar
Located in a very narrow alley, this fritter is frequented by locals from all walks of life. The owner is a genial fellow and he serves different kinds of fritters locally known as chop and fried litti too. We tried the fried litti which is gram flour stuffed fried dough balls and the newly introduced cheese pakoda. Both were quite good especially with the chutney.
KURSEONG MISTANNA BHANDAR
89,T.N. Road
It is a famous Bengali sweet and snack shop where there are so many options to choose from. We had some sandesh, gur rasgulla, gulab jamun, rasmalai and rasgulla. Sandesh is a soft and luscious sweet made of cottage cheese. Gur rasgulla is cottage balls cooked in jaggery based syrup
SUMIT AALU MOMO SHOP
Beside Allahabad Bank
It is a small eatery famous for an insane fusion dish called aalu chola momo. It is basically aalu dum topped with chole, momo, sev etc. The interplay of textures and flavours creates a party inside the mouth.
THE FRESH BITE SHAH NAWAZ BAKERY
112/B Hill Cart Road
Fresh Bite Shah Nawaz Bakery which was decked up with various fresh breads and cookies. We tried the tandoori farata and some cookies. The former was a soft, flaky, fluffy and buttery all purpose flour based bread that goes well with curries. The second one was a soft and crumbly cookie made of desiccated coconut.
RAHUL PAAN SHOP
Opposite Kurseong Railway Station
Run by a young fellow, it is a popular paan shop near the station.
SUNNY SIDE ECO HOMESTAY
It is a beautiful homestay right on the main road. Here we tried the favourite local breakfast i.e. puri and aalu dum.
KURSEONG TOURIST LODGE
NH 110
It is a quaint lodge located on the main road and the surrounding is quite scenic. We had visited its restaurant to experience the vibe. This place is a preferred stop because of the apt location and reasonable menu. Since we were full, we tried a cheese sandwich with beaten coffee.
CAFE KURSEONG DIARIES
Hill Cart Road, Near Locomotive Shed
Apart from the great food and service, this cafe has a fascinating decor that is peppered with the elements related to Kurseong, starting from the paintings of the locals to a toy train replica. Here too we just tried one of their signature soup called the mountain man soup which was essentially lemon flavored fresh veg soup.
COCHRANE PLACE
132 Pankhabari Road Fatak, Kurseong
It is a boutique hotel with a stunning ambience both inside and outside. They have an elaborate menu consisting of Continental, Chinese, Indian cuisines. We opted for the banana pancakes which were soft, fluffy and luscious.
TIMBOOR ON THE TRAIL
Subhas Ghisingh Marg, Rohini Tea Garden
It is a beautiful multi cuisine garden restaurant where we tried an elaborate Nepali course which is their specialty. This included the following dishes.
CHOILA
Burnt chicken pieces tossed in local herbs, spices and mustard oil
FARSI KO PHOOL KO PAKODA
Bread crumbs coated pumpkin flower fritter
USINAYKO AALU ANI TIMBOOR KO ACHAR
Boiled potato wedges served with timboor (Sichuan pepper) chutney
SISHNU KO JHOL
Earthy flavoured thick soup made of stinging nettle leaves
SEL ROTI
Ring shaped deep fried sweet snack made of rice flour
AALU DUM
Quintessential Nepali style spicy potato curry
MULA KO ACHAR
Piquant salad made of brine soaked radish and peanut-sesame powder
RAYO KO SAAG ANI BHATMAS
Simple side dish made of mustard greens and soya bean
BHUTEKO AALU JEERA SANGA
Boiled potatoes tossed in cumin seed
SADEKO BHATMAS
Refreshing salad made of soyabean, onions, tomatoes, ginger and lemon juice
SADEKO GUNDRUK
Piquant side dish made of gundruk (fermented and dried mustard greens)
MULA KO ACHAR
Piquant salad made of brine soaked radish and peanut-sesame powder
JIMBU LAY JHANAYKO KALO DAL
Native black lentil tempered with a local herb called jimbu
SUNGUR KO MASU ANI RAYO KO SAAG
Pork meat cooked with mustard greens
BARA MASALA KUKHURA KO MASU
Dry chicken dish prepared with 12 different native spices
GUR KO KHEER
Creamy pudding made of rice, milk and jaggery
Tea lovers visiting Kurseong should definitely make time to visit the Makaibari Tea Estate which is one of the oldest tea gardens in the region. Take a guided tour around the lush estate to witness the tea making process right from plucking to processing.
