Fifteen Years on the Hooghly
The philosophy, the people, and the kitchen behind Sohana.
The philosophy, the people, and the kitchen behind Sohana.
Sohana opened in 2011 with a simple provocation: that the food carried home in tiffin boxes along the river deserved the same craft and room as any grand cuisine. Every dish begins with the same three staples our grandmothers trusted — mustard, ginger and river fish — and is finished with technique borrowed from kitchens far beyond Bengal.
We source hilsa and bhetki fresh from the delta each morning, press our own kasundi in-house, and age our mustard oil for eleven days before it ever reaches a pan.
"Cook the coast honestly, and the coast will fill the room."
Hilsa and bhetki arrive each morning from three fishing families we've worked with for over a decade. Nothing is frozen for the à la carte menu.
Mustard is stone-ground daily. Kasundi is pressed in-house. Mustard oil is aged eleven days in the kitchen behind the dining room.
We adapt technique, not flavour. A dish leaves the kitchen tasting like Bengal, plated for a room that expects precision.
Everything on the menu traces back to one of these — sourced the same way, every single day.
Black and yellow seeds, stone-ground each morning. It's the backbone of sorshe, kasundi and half the menu.
Bought each morning from three fishing families on the Hooghly — never frozen for the à la carte menu.
Cold-pressed and rested in clay before it ever touches a pan — it's what gives the gravies their sharp finish.
A twenty-cover room on Camac Street, built around a single wood-fired tandoor and a mustard-grinding stone.
Returning from a decade in Lyon, she rebuilds the menu around classical technique applied to Bengali staples.
Sohana begins buying hilsa and bhetki directly from three fishing families on the Hooghly, cutting out the market entirely.
The dining room doubles in size; the private tasting table is added for parties of six to ten.
Sohana serves its ten-thousandth covered guest and opens weekend tasting-menu seatings.
From the morning delta delivery to the final plate out the door — this is what eighteen years of practice looks like in motion.
"Every mustard seed we grind carries a decision — how sharp, how slow, how much heat to let through. That's the whole job."
Trained in Kolkata and Lyon, Chef Anindita spent a decade cooking classical French technique before returning home to apply it to the food she grew up on. She sources hilsa directly from three fishing families on the Hooghly and presses Sohana's mustard oil in a stone chekku behind the kitchen every Sunday.
Best Regional Cuisine, Kolkata
Chef of the Year — Anindita Basu
Sustainable Sourcing Recognition
Guest's Choice, Fine Dining
Weekend evenings book out 5–7 days ahead — reserve early to get the room you want.