It’s the season of festivities and feasting! For Diwali this year. Kolkata’s food stops, hotels and bakeries have taken gifting to another level, curating special hampers with the choicest sweet and savoury treats. Think cakes, chocolates, ice creams as well as crackers, snacks and pasta.
My Kolkata lists a few places that can help make your Diwali even more special with their hampers.
Kookie Jar
It’s always a delight to walk into a Kookie Jar store, enveloped in the aroma of freshly-baked patties, fresh cream pastries and cakes. The taste of Kookie Jar is an all-time favourite for most Kolkatans. For Diwali this year, the iconic bakery — that recently made a cake for Virat Kohli’s birthday — has introduced some fresh new flavours and dressed up some classic favourites. The famous Nut Corner has got a Diwali makeover as the Caramelised Nuts and Honey Pie, and there’s a range of festive pataka treats like the Pataka Ice Cookies, which has icing in the shape of patakas on them, and the Pataka Cake. The much-loved Travel Cake also has a new flavour — Strawberry Travel Cake, which is made with fresh strawberries. What’s more? You can curate your own box for a personal touch.
Address: All outlets across Kolkata
To order: Order from Swiggy or drop into any of the five outlets of Kookie Jar (Rawdon Street, Alipore, City Centre, Hindustan Park and Rene Tower in Kasba)
Pocket pinch: From Rs 162 onwards
The Fat Little Penguin
For this Diwali, artisanal ice cream brand The Fat Little Penguin has gone all out with their offers. The parlour has curated an assortment of specially curated gift boxes, featuring their signature flavours in new and familiar avatars.
While the Sandwich Jhuri comes with four ice-cream sandwiches of any choice, the Cone-oli Box has eight pieces of assorted cone-oli (rolled cones with a cream filling). The Pratibha Mini Treat Drawer comes with four eclairs, nine mini sandwiches and nine fruit cubes and the Tasting Box comes with eight tiny tubs of assorted flavours of ice cream.
Address: 11C Palm Avenue, Ballygunge
To order: Order online here
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,000 onwards
Little Pleasures Patisserie
Big and small hamper boxes, chewy-soft macarons, savoury platters, and more — Little Pleasures Patisserie is ensuring their customers have all the options for Diwali treats this year. For those who want something sweet, there are special cake and brownie boxes with picks like Ruffle Fudge Cake, Luxe Belgian Macaron Cakes, Fudge Brownie Box decorated in a poker and Diwali themes (and some with decadent molten dips) as well as Chocolate Bon Bon and Cookie Boxes. If you’re looking for something a little different, there is a gelato hamper and other sweet treat hampers. The colourful Macaron Boxes have chef Shripriya’s favourite assortment of raspberry, lemon and chocolate, and there is also a chef curated hamper which has their signature Lemon Tea Cake, and a Berliners Box with soft sugar-dusted Berliners filled lemon curd, raspberry, salted caramel, and more.
If you’re hosting a party, or looking for a gift for one, Little Pleasures has also put together some Grazing Boxes that are good for a group of people and have savoury and sweet options. The Savoury Grazing Box is a perfect charcuterie platter with Beetroot Flatbread, Rustic Herb Crackers, Marinara, a Nutty Herbed Cheese wheel and more. The Dessert Grazing Box comes in various sizes and has a selection of treats including Caramel Popcorn, Salted Caramel Sauce, Candied Orange Slices, Chocolate Macarons, Hazelnut Swiss Rolls, and more.
Address: Outlets in Bhowanipore, Sector 1 (Salt Lake) and Circus Avenue
To order: Call 9830544866 (six to 24 hours prior), order on Swiggy for Tea Cake Hampers
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,350 onwards
The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata
The Oberoi Grand has also curated a bunch of hampers, with delightful names like Roxy, Lindsay, Chowringhee, The Grand Dame and more. The lavish hampers have a selection of baked goods and confections like tea cakes, cookies, pralines, macaroons, marmalade, crackers and also tea and coffee. Our pick is the Lindsay hamper, which comes with assorted cookies, assorted French macaroons, assorted pralines, roasted almond rocks, orange and chocolate tea cake, cheese crackers, truffle oil, wild forest honey, specialty coffee and an Oberoi blend tea.
Address: 15, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, New Market Area
To order: Check out the hampers on the menu here, and call +91 3322492323/ +91 90514 76093 to order
Pocket pinch: Rs 2,800 onwards
ITC Sonar Bangla and Royal Bengal
ITC Hotels Kolkata have jumped on the festive bandwagon and have curated four Diwali hampers to choose from for your loved ones or yourself. The Festive Reserve, The Grand Curation, The Regal Assemblage and The Diamante Collection have various combinations of assorted baked goods, sweets and more. There are brownie boxes, mithai boxes, chocolates by Fabelle and even a few savoury treats to celebrate the festivities
Address: 1, JBS Haldane Avenue, Tangra
To order: Call 033 44464646
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,999 onwards
Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences
From mishti and chocolate boxes to grand Diwali hampers, Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences has covered it all. For this festive season they have an assortment of options — Indian sweet boxes, chocolate boxes, macaron boxes, and grand hampers with sweets, cakes, tea, kombucha and more. Our pick is the Millennium Diwali Collection Hamper which has roasted cashews and almonds, a hot chocolate mix from Pooja Dhingra’s Le 15, macarons, mawa cakes, and chocolates, as well as some candles and potpourri and a bottle of red wine.
Address: CF 11, Action Area 1C, Rajarhat, New Town
To order: Call on 8584077055
Pocket pinch: Rs 600 onwards
Cookey Monkey
Who said you have to splurge to treat your friends and family this Diwali? Home bakery Cookey Monkey has come up with five new hampers that are versatile and easy on the pocket. Packed with sweet and savoury treats like makhana, samosa, cookies, crackers and more, these can make great options for gifts. While the Budget Hamper comes with Caramelized Makhana, Croissant Samosa, Brookies and more, The Variety Box has Rasmalai Cookies, Korean Buns, Cheese and Basil Crackers and more. The Premium Hamper has the most treats of the lot including Cranberry Chocolate Bark, Stuffed Garlic Bread with Cheesy Dip and two Motichoor Cheesecake Jars.
Address: AE 648, A.E. Block sector 1, AE Block, Sector 1, Bidhannagar
To order: Call 9007204775 (before the day of delivery)
Pocket pinch: Rs 400 onwards
Sorano
If your family or friends love Italian cuisine then these hampers from Sorano are perfect for them. The eatery has come up with two hampers that will give your Diwali celebrations an Italian twist. The Pasta Hamper comes with Dry Garganelli Pasta, Dry Fettuccine Pasta, Sourdough Bread, Sorano Spiced Nuts, Herb Infused Mozzarella, Pickled Veg, Chili Oil, Herb Oil, Sorano Herb Mix, Parmesan Cheese, Pesto Sauce and Pomodoro Sauce. The Diwali Burrata Hamper offers Homemade Burrata (4 pcs), Cherry Tomato, Pesto Sauce, Balsamic Caviar, Herb Oil, Chili Oil, Basil Leaves and Pickled Chili.
Address: 1st Floor, Harrington Mansion, 8, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area
To order: Call or WhatsApp on 9831818192
Pocket pinch: From Rs 2,950
Pinkk Sugars
The patisserie, restaurant and dessert lounge has curated a Diwali hamper that has something for everyone! There are little pieces for decorating your space like candles and diyas, as well as an assortment of sweet and savoury treats and sips. There is a chandi bowl of almonds, a Borecha Kombucha Can, a Sepoy Lemonade, Bun Pizzas, Korean Cream Cheese Buns, Sea Salt and Thyme Crackers, Chocolate Truffle Praline Cake Jars and Chocolate Fudge Cake Pops.
Apart from the hamper, Pinkk Sugars is also offering a festive discount all of November and you get per cent on a bill of Rs 1,000 and above.
Address: AD-37, AD Block, Sector 1, Bidhannagar
To order: WhatsApp on 9836778000
Pocket pinch: Rs 2,350