After a month and a half of renovation, Ambrosia Restaurant & Bar has opened its doors to guests with brand-new interiors and a new menu.
The revamped 1,200 sq ft eatery in DD Block has undergone a stunning transformation after six years and has embraced the beauty of nature in its décor. They have also changed their logo making it more vibrant and colourful.
From an old Calcutta feel of red brick walls, dim lights and sketches of Victoria Memorial and Howrah bridge, they have transformed the space into a 52-seater restaurant with hanging garden ceilings, carefully placed potted plants, mirror sides and vibrant sitting areas.
A new menu has also been launched, shifting from Indian and Chinese to a diverse all-day cafe menu along with a select fine dining menu. “We want to invite the youth and imbibe their energy, so we changed everything, starting with our logo. Our interiors are now in green and white, and the setting is vibrant. The new menu can make people sit and enjoy themselves for hours,” said Supratik Ghosh, the owner.
The management has also made sure that the place is Instagram-friendly.
“Nowadays that is a common point of interest among people. Not only the ambience, we have also kept the food Instagramable, as a lot of focus has gone into how we present the food and the mocktails,” he added.
Chef Suman Dewan believes that the food needs to be presented with a twist. “Food nowadays needs to be modern. There was nothing new or modern in our old menu. So while retaining the original favourites, we have introduced new items and fusion items which also look interesting.”
The new menu has new signature items – Vegetable Cheesy Mushroom (mushroom stuffed with cheese and mushroom tossed in cheddar cheese), Crispy Lotus Stem (fine lotus stem fried and tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce, and black and white sesame) Shiracha Chicken Tikka (shiracha sauce marinated chicken cooked over tandoor) Lemon Cilantro Chicken skewer (chicken marinated with coriander and chilli mix, grilled and served with cilantro mayo) and Cottage cheese shashlik in peri peri sauce (cottage cheese marinated in peri peri sauce, served with tossed vegetables and herbed rice), bhuna gosht.
They have also launched new mocktails – Gondhoraj Mojito (gondhoraj-flavoured mojito), Boozy Watermelon (fresh watermelon juice in tiki glass), Zombie Catcher (mix of orange juice, guava juice and lemon juice served in tiki glass)...
“We have also tried new mocktail mixes. We are using fresh organic items and dehydrated fruits but we have also focused on the presentation, we have eye-catching glassware, so that along with taste they can also look good,” said Partha Ghosh, food and beverage consultant.
“We had aimed to open the place before the Pujas. One of the reasons we thought of changing the restaurant was the pandemic. Last year, the Pujas were not amazing for us, which is usually not the case in recent years as we are far away from the pandals. After Covid, customers try not to go to places which are crowded. Instead of public transport, nowadays they are travelling more in private cars. We have a huge parking area. These advantages led us to the realisation that we can grow our business if we have great ambience and good food, service and mocktails,” said Ghosh.
People love to go to Park Street only for the food, he said, but new places also have an opportunity. “We understand that people will always go to Park Street but they have also started exploring new places about which they get to learn from social media,” he explained.