• 5
• Govinda

This restaurant is really top notch. Read my other reviews and you'll see that I don't really fawn over restaurants unless they are deserving. I'm pretty critical when I feel it is warranted, and I haven't spared this place either; but, for sure, I can't find a better pure-veg restaurant in Kolkata. First things first .... If you are coming here it is all about timing. Although they are open from 9am until late, the entire menu is only available from 1-3pm for lunch and then from 7pm-closing. If you come outside of that timeframe the South Indian menu and whatever is on offer at the sweet/savory counter is all you can order. So if doshas and milk sweets aren't your thing, you should aim for these times. Personally, I think the doshas are excellent though. The prices are amazing for the well prepared, generously portioned menu items. I recommend the Shezuan Paneer, the Govinda's special dosha, Chinese crispy noodle salad and pretty much anything from the sweet bar out the front. They make very nice traditional "pera" if you have a sweet tooth. The service is friendly and attentive, however, the place gets filled up quickly and I noticed it was a little hard for the waiters to keep up. A good strategy would probably be to order everything in one go unless you are lucky to go when there are few others there. I've been there four times now and this has never been the case except for once when I came around 9am before the lunch rush. One suggestion I'd like to make to the management would be to present the full menu only during the times it is available. At other times a simplified menu could be presented containing the South Indian items that can actually be ordered. It was a little disappointing to scope the menu only to be told that everything I wanted was not available for another 4 hours. Still, the Govinda's Special Dosha they recommended did not disappoint.