Skip to content Skip to navigation

Gourmet gig at Guwahati

Mother's Kitchen, Paltan Bazar serves veg platter
Mother's Kitchen, Paltan Bazar serves veg platter

Guwahati is emerging to be a food capital of world cuisine in Assam. New year is a good time to take stock of the old tastes and the new flavours of the month. It is a paradise for food lovers of all denominations. Some of my all time favourites which provides the comfort food defining the essence of the city are chicken rolls at J-14, momos at silk route, Chinese cuisine at China town and Chung fa, Assamese thali at Paradise, Hilsa Fish Curry and Joha Rice at Maa Manasha Hotel in Pandu, Chicken Patties and pastries at Eggs O tic, South Indian food at Woodlands, Unlimited Marwari Thali at Fancy Bazar, Naga food at CBCNEI canteen, Smoked pork at Naga Kitchen, Biryani at Sunflowers, Slice of Heaven and Food Ex, Pizza and Continental Food at (erstwhile) Pizzeria, Puri and sabji, kachori at Uzan Bazar Morning Shop which is open only till 7.30am.

Some favourite during the 90s were Goja and nimbu chai at Cotton College Canteen, Rolls at Feeds Pan Bazar, Chow at Reboti, Sweets at Gauhati Dairy, Queens cake and stuffed parathas at Shaikh Brothers, street food in front of Cotton college, Indian delights in The Dhaba, Momos at Momo ghar and Ambees. Such flavours are slowly fading in this city of possibilities devoured by world chains and fast food joints popping at every corner of the city. Even pan was a favourite cuisine in Ambari pan shops which served pan in style. Mishtimukh in Ulubari, Jagadamba in Silpukhuri, Rookman Sweets in Fancy Bazar were some of the old time sweet shops catering to the city’s sweet flavours. Birthdays and parties were incomplete without bakery items from Diamond Bakery, Kamrup Bakery, Shaikh Brothers, Lakhi Cabin and Eggs-O-Tic. Popularity of food joints in Guwahati was through word of mouth communication, proximity from home, schools, colleges and workplaces and most importantly due to company of friends and family. Sometimes we also enjoyed promoting the budding food entrepreneurs who happened to be from the family and friends’ circles as well.

In recent years some tastes have remained with me worth mentioning for the New Year cheer. Assamese Fish Tenga, Pork with bamboo shoot and Aromatic Joha Rice at Delicacy, Maihang and Khorika, Afghani Chicken and Shawarma rolls at Grill Republic, Shami Kebab Rolls at Little Chef, Kebabs of all kinds at Mughal Garden, Veg momos at Kiranshree, Chicken Quiche at Fab India Cafe, Chicken Voluvent and Mini Brownie at Loyans, Momos and meal combos at Hotpot, Idli, dhokla and sweets at JBs, Sitaphal Ice cream at Naturals, Dahi puchkas at Mirch Masala, Jalebi at Rookmans and Kanha Sweets, Chocolate Coconut barfi at Gokul Sweets, Moroccan Mint tea with hummus and pita breads at Mocha, Chocolate Waffle at Fab India Cafe, Tuna Sandwich and momos at Brown Bean Cafe, Dal Makhni at Three Guys Restaurant, Filter Coffee, idli platter and pav bhaji at Dosa Plaza, Bengali Food at Kasturi, 16 Ballygunj and O Maago, Continental delights at Ziya and Terra Maya, Cup cakes and Baked Savoury at The Bakehouse, Spinach Corn Sandwiches at Repose, Chinese soups, egg wrapped rice and any veg or non veg main course with caramel walnuts at Red Pepper Hot Chilli, Railway Mutton Curry, Dab Chingri and Assamese delights at Ambrosia and very recently flavourful aromatic tea, tuna sandwiches and amazing host at Back Bencher’s Cafe, Rajgarh Link Road.

Some food places are more memorable for their ambiance, location and sense of space. The Zouk Cafe in Beltola, Mocha, Mother’s Love, Red Pepper Hot Chilli, The Bakehouse, Eggs-O-Tic -The Pastry Shop, Maihang, Crackling Mustard, Cafe Coffee day at Housefed and Dighalipukhuri, Leaves and Weaves at The Guwahati Address, Shanghai Salsa, Terra Maya, Strawberry Fields, Frequency, Fab India Cafe, Alfresco, Green Wood Resort, Food Villa.

All these places have interesting menus and price charts which fluctuate yearly. Some have been experimental with flavours, some with the items and very few with their location. Gourmet cuisines are also delightful in the regular restaurants inside the major hotels like Pragati Manor, Landmark, Gateway Grandeur, Radisson Blu, Taj Vivanta and Brahmaputra Ashok in Guwahati city but such places cater to a few. I am happy that variety is the spice of life and Guwahati has a range of aromas to offer apart from the latest craze of multi-national brands like Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway and Dominos which dominate branded, mono-cultured food tastes at reasonable rates with year round offers for all pockets.

Rather an early morning tea, kettle pitha on the roadside, samosas and patichapta sweets with tea near latasil, rice meal near kharguli for Rs 40 and momos from the mobile vans, handi biryani and pakoras from the roadside, chana, muri, peanut and bhutta from every nook and corner, home cooked comfort food from small nameless joints actually fuels Guwahati everyday with the thrills of a city. Hope this New Year finds you with good food, authentic flavours and awesome taste till then let me dig into my morsel of crunchy cuisine.

Author info

Samhita Barooah's picture

Foodie and Travel Writer.

Add new comment

Random Stories

Refugees dead in Dhubri camp

28 Jul 2012 - 3:27am | editor
In yet another major embarrassment, a minor boy and a 60-year-old man died in two different relief camps in Bilasipara on Friday. The district administration is yet to ascertain the cause. The relief...

Zubeen ignores ULFA diktat

19 Apr 2013 - 11:58am | AT News
Braving ULFA diktat  Zubeen Garg peformed in Hindi in the bihu function in Guwahati. The popular singer sang in Hindi one after another songs at two functions on Thursday evening.  Hours...

Sal logs seized in Kokrajhar

18 Aug 2016 - 6:49pm | AT Kokrajhar Bureau
Police and forest department officials, once able to seize a laden truck with Sal and non Sal logs,which were carrying by smugglers along at Karigaon along 31 C National Highway early this morning in...

AASU threatens 100 hr bandh

12 Mar 2017 - 12:00pm | AT News
The All Assam Students Union threatens to call 100 hour statewide bandh alleging the failure to arrest Soobodh Biswas, who took the alleged role in the Silapothar incident. Talking to Assam Times,...

Other Contents by Author

On a Saturday afternoon I rushed to watch a much-awaited film called Emuthi Puthi in Guwahati. The best part was that it was running in the nearest movie theatre for a reasonable price of Rs. 100. I had already met the whole team of actors and directors at Tezpur University council hall when they came for their promotions. The film had hilarious moments of fun and entertainment throughout. It was a journey of salvation through fish for one generation, while it was a way of getting out of the country to fetch an American dream for another generation. Women are the protagonists whose trials and tribulations compel them to move into this journey of life and death. The travels around the...
Elections have become the T-20 matches these days. Everyone is busy with balancing equations with religious, class, regional, ethnic, traditional lineages. Today our household voting practice started with the staff seeking leave from work to vote for the 1st time in life. One is 18 and the other 22. Rushing home to cast their 1st votes. One friend went to his hometown in the 1st phase of voting. His ailing mother, caregiver wife and young daughters could not vote. Only one vote was registered. Another neighbour went home in Darrang to cast her vote. Voter information is defined by the symbols that they would cast their vote on. Whom to vote is a big question for Assam assembly elections....
New manifesto shared by women's groups in Assam is significant. Political assertion through women's collective efforts needs to be incorporated across diverse leadership agendas of social, cultural and political leadership in Assam. When women are discussed as sex objects on stage, pitied as battered persons in news, projected as mere cultural symbols of tradition and heritage during events and defeated as useless leaders in crucial decision making institutions and organisations, women need to assert their presence, participation and perspectives. Sometimes one realises when March 8 is celebrated across the world to endorse vaginal solidarity. With the pandemic times, such solidarity...
We have been residents of Guwahati a city in the making. Its a city of rivers, drains and hilly streams all woven together in a fascinating ecology of hill and valley. Our locality receives annual flash floods during the monsoon months of May till September and remains dry during the other months of the year. We live with respected elite citizens with academic, business, bureaucratic, political, social and cultural affiliations. Our house happens to be a centre of many things like trees, flowers, birds, cats, snails, earthworms, vegetables, grasses of diverse varieties and also water supply lines, floods and three electricity lines which connects the neighbours electricity supply too. We...
Age is celebrated in Assam. People live their life fully through their ageism. Patriarchal ageism goes beyond gender. Any gender might practice ageism. People like to be ageing genders. Owning, patronising, controlling, oppressing and bullying are some of the consequences of ageism. If you are adulting, ageing and male you can earn maximum previlege as an ageist. Some of the classic ageist remarks,"Bura baapekor uporot kotha nokobi." 'Do not talk on top of an old father.' "Ami bohut thair pani khaisu nohoi amatke besi jano niki?" 'We have drunk water from many places, do you know more than us?' "Ajikalir deka tezor bor dom ami nu kun kuta." 'Nowadays young blood has too much power we are...
Covid 19 pandemic has opened up many truths around us. One such truth about our city is the growth of vendors and hawkers who visit our homes, byelanes or localities even during covid times. Only voices sometimes one could hear during home quarentine and lockdown periods were that of vegetable, fish, chicken vendors. Earlier we used to hear 'Dorupay wala' vendors from Bihar and UP with all kinds of utility products in dirt cheap prices and mekhela sador selling vendors during the flood season mostly from flood affected districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. But these days we hear about spice sale, food item sale, delivery staff from various companies like swiggy, zomato and all food joints...
Journey of women through the heart of Assam across the banks of Brahmaputra is indeed an interesting one. It is a journey of knowing the length and breadth of the nooks and corners of the country at one go. Baatein Aman Ki or Peace Conversations is such a process which engages people, institutions and organisations to explore ways of understanding each other. It involves communities, people, women, activists, academicians and students to uphold the values of peace, co existence, harmony and democracy. This journey begins on Sept 22 and extends till October 13. It will be starting from Jorhat then go to Kaziranga, Tezpur, Nagaon, Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Gossaigaon and Kokrajhar before moving...
I am 71 years old now since I felt free from being a colony. I have travelled through waves of troubled existence and silent deaths in the last 71 years. Today at the threshold of being free and fair I have many thoughtful reflections. Do I celebrate the freedom of 71 long years or do I believe in the mirage of being free? I am a country with millions to be precise more than a billion odd persons in diverse contexts. My progress lies with the progress of these people and all others around me. My ecological existence is getting very diverse with changing moments in the history, politics and social relationships around my borders. I have survived a million mutinies which are both violent and...
Last month I travelled to Wakru in Arunachal Pradesh through Tinsukia district of Assam with a bunch of young professors. It was a self-driven ride of about 4 hours from Dibrugarh the second city in Assam. The journey was fascinating as my friends stopped at various points on the way spotting orchids, big trees, abandoned shrines and beautiful rivers. Suddenly my friend would look away from the steering wheel and say, “Look look, look at the pride of those orchids hiding behind the tree branches.” Orchids of different varieties bloom along the roadside in Arunachal Pradesh. There are yellow orchids, white and purple ones called ‘Kopou’ in Assam. There were trees along the highway which had...
My wilderness treks have taken me into some of the most memorable forests in India and abroad. Whether it was the sacred grooves of Mawphlang or the Rhododendron forests of North Sikkim, wild treks through community forests in Nagaland or elephant rides through the rhino, elephant and tiger parks in Assam. I was fascinated by the wilderness of Pench wildlife sanctuary in the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Bharatpur and Sariska in Rajasthan and Bandipur in Karnataka. I was lucky to explore the teak forests in Narmada valley in Madhya Pradesh, hornbill habitats in Sejusa in Arunachal Pradesh, thick forests in Ranikhet, Nainital, Dehradun and Mussouri during the 90s and early 2000s...