There is a moment, a few steps from the roar of Marble Arch, when the city quietens and the air turns fragrant — mustard oil, charred spice, something sweet and milky underneath it all. That is the doorway to Chourangi.

Most Indian restaurants in London give you the food you already know. Chourangi gives you the food you didn’t know you were missing. For three hundred years, Calcutta sat at the crossroads of empire — British, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Chinese hands all stirred the same pot, and Bengali spice held it together.

What came out the other side is a cuisine that feels familiar on the tongue and surprising a half-second later. This is a menu built from that history. Here are ten dishes worth crossing the city for.

10 Signature Dishes to Try at Chourangi

1. Kasundi Paneer Tikka

Bengal’s mustard is not shy. Kasundi — the region’s fermented mustard paste — has a sharpness that wakes the whole palate up, and here it clings to thick cubes of paneer that go into the tandoor until the edges blacken and blister. What you get is the best kind of contrast: a smoky, charred exterior giving way to a soft, cool centre, with that unmistakable mustard tang cutting clean through the richness. It is the dish that quietly tells you the rest of the meal is going to be different.

2. Prawn Cutlet

This one carries a story. In old Calcutta, the “cabins” — small, dim, beloved eateries — served fried cutlets to students, clerks and courting couples who lingered for hours over a single plate. Chourangi’s version keeps that spirit: plump prawns, seasoned and crumbed, fried until they shatter at the first bite, with a pot of sharp Kasundi mustard for dipping. Comfort food with a hundred years of nostalgia folded in.

3. Tangra Chilli Paneer

Tangra is Calcutta’s Chinatown, and the food that grew up there — Indian hands cooking Chinese technique — became a cuisine all its own. This is a tribute to it: paneer tossed hard and fast in a hot wok with green chillies, bell peppers, soy and a generous hit of garlic. Glossy, punchy, faintly smoky from the heat of the pan. Order it if you want to taste how two cultures learned to speak the same language over a stove.

4. Tiger Prawns Tandoor

Some dishes don’t need decoration. Jumbo tiger prawns are marinated in local spices, garlic and mustard oil, then laid over live coals in the tandoor until the flesh turns sweet and just-firm and the char does the rest. Smoke, sea, spice. That’s the whole story, and it’s plenty.

5. Nizam’s Malai Tikka

Named for the storied kitchens that gave Calcutta its famous rolls, this is the gentle one — chicken steeped in a marinade of cream, green cardamom and cashew until it is almost silken, then grilled with a light touch so nothing overpowers. Mild, fragrant, melting. The dish you order for the person at the table who says they don’t like spice, and then watch them go quiet.

6. Laal Murgi Kebab

Laal means red, and this kebab earns the name. Chicken is marinated in a deep red chilli paste with roasted cumin and mustard oil, then fired in the tandoor until it takes on a slow, smoky heat that builds rather than shouts. Robust, warming, a little swaggering. A proper way to open a meal.

7. Kosha Lamb

Ask a Bengali about Sunday lunch and this is the dish they’ll picture. Lamb is slow-cooked in an iron handi with caramelised onions, ginger, garlic and whole spices, coaxed along until the gravy turns dark, glossy and almost jam-like and the meat gives way without resistance. There is no shortcut to this flavour — only time. One mouthful explains why Calcutta cooking is loved the way it is.

8. Daak Bungalow Chicken Curry

The name comes from the colonial rest houses — daak bungalows — where travellers stopped for the night and the cook made do with whatever was on hand. Out of that improvisation came something quietly perfect: bone-in chicken, whole boiled eggs and potatoes simmered in a spiced, home-style gravy. It tastes like a meal cooked for you by someone who wanted you to feel looked after.

9. Tiger Prawn Malai Curry

If Chourangi has a showstopper, this is it. Giant tiger prawns are simmered ever so gently in a coconut-milk gravy scented with green cardamom and cinnamon — a sauce so smooth and delicately spiced it feels almost weightless. It is the elegant, restrained side of Indian cooking, the proof that heat is a choice and not a requirement. Rich without ever being heavy.

10. Langcha & Rabri

You end where every good Bengali meal ends: with sweetness. Langcha — fried cottage-cheese dough soaked through with cardamom syrup — is laid over a pool of thick, chilled rabri, reduced milk cooked down to something between a cream and a cloud. Warm and cool, syrupy and silken, all at once. A last, lingering reason to stay a little longer.

Plan Your Visit

Our Menu: Explore every dish at chourangi.co.uk/menu.

Reservations: Book your table at chourangi.co.uk/book-a-table.

Private Dining: For group bookings and events, visit chourangi.co.uk/private-dining.

FrequentlyAsked Questions

Where is Chourangi located? Chourangi sits at 3 Old Quebec Street, London W1H 7AF — just a short walk from Marble Arch Station and Oxford Street.

Does Chourangi offer vegetarian options? Yes. There’s a generous vegetarian selection, including the Kasundi Paneer Tikka, Tangra Chilli Paneer and a rotating cast of seasonal vegetable dishes.

How can I make a reservation? Book online at chourangi.co.uk or call the restaurant directly.