Getting Kacchi Biryani in Paris

 Café Sundarban - My favourite place to get Bengali Biryani in Paris

There are many Indian restaurants in Paris that serve biryani but the specific flavour of the Bengali biryani is served in very few places. Actually Café Sundarban is the ONLY restaurant I know of that serves it!

There are many Indian restaurants in Paris that serve biryani but the specific flavour of the Bengali biryani is served in very few places. 

Kacchi biryani is a specific type of preparation where the rice and marinated raw meat is slow-cooked together. Biryanis are by rule complicated recipes as a lot of ingredients are required and enough practise to go anywhere near perfection. But if you can come close to mastering the art of making a biryani at home, that would be a BIG accomplishment! 👏 But if you don't want to bother, it's alright, as thankfully, here in Paris, this restaurant does serve amazingly good biryani! Here is a big 'handi' that probably has 10 kg of biryani that disappears quick by the end of the afternoon! 

The restaurant address is:

Café Sundarban (Bangladeshi cuisine)

151 Rue Lafayette

75010 Paris

This particular restaurant serves biryani prepared as per the region of Bengal (this includes both West Bengal, in India and Bangladesh). What makes this biryani recipe separate from every other biryanis is the presence of potatoes. Here's my potato I have hunted easily in my biryani mound. 

Look at that massive portion! The biryani served comes in two meat varieties, you can either choose chicken biryani or mutton biryani. I personally prefer the chicken because there is more meat to it! I love that they are generous with their portion, it's a feast to the eyes! I love their offering of salad and green chillies. There is a distinct fragrance to this biryani which wafts to your nose the moment you step into the restaurant. Both the biryani varieties, as of today, cost 7 euros each. Apart from the generous portion, the biryani itself is light, not spicy and fragrant. 

Here's a night pic of the restaurant from the outside. It is located very close to one of the many entrances to the big station called Gare du Nord in Paris. A day pic of the restaurant has never come out very well for me. I must warn that this is not a 5 star restaurant. The prices are very friendly and that's because the ambience, service, cutlery or plates, there's nothing fancy. You have to come here only for the food. 

The predominant color of the restaurant is green, reminiscent of the lush landscapes of the Sundarban. What is the Sundarban you ask? The Sundarbans is a dense tropical delta in the southern Bengal region where 3 rivers confluence and merge into the Bay of Bengal. The entire region is a marshy swamp where trees grow roots above the water and contains a thriving and diversified wildlife. The restaurant used to contain art that depicts the Sundarban tribal people's art of the local fauna. 

I used to enjoy seeing many of such art around the restaurant. Unfortunately they have revamped the restaurant a few months ago and these arts so typical of the Bengal tribal art is no more!

The restaurant is sufficiently big in size. There are about 15 tables at least. A meal experience there can be very interesting. Customers don't stay for long. They eat and leave without much of chit-chat around an after-meal tea or coffee. The waiters are always busy winding their way between the tables. It's not too often that I see families come in here, mostly groups of men and sometimes women. I will make a special mention of the workers in the restaurant, they are all very nice. I have been there several times (at least 10 in a span of 2 years) and I always faced consistently polite and respectful service.

A few months ago, they started a dedicated stall in the restaurant that prepares just Fuska or Fuchka or panipuri. This is a snack item, the pictures in the image should give an idea. 

On the other side, there is even a tandoor to make fresh tandoori rotis. Yum yum! This is one reason I like Bengali restaurants. Most of the food served are freshly made. No nonsense of serving supermarket bought food in here.

Apart from the biryani (which is the star item in the menu) there are also the other regular curry items to be found in the buffet. A meal of rice + veggies + meat curry would be 6 euros.

I am trying to lessen my frequency to this restaurant only because I have significantly put on weight indulging myself in their delicious biryani!

Most often, I eat here alone. I usually share the table with strangers sitting in front of me. We are both too busy enjoying our lunch for any small talk.

After that heavy meal, a siesta is the best thing to have! I hope you are going to go try this restaurant yourself! If you have been craving biryani, then this restaurant will not disappoint! If anyone wondered, this is not a sponsored blog, I am offering free publicity to a restaurant where the workers have worked hard to produce a biryani that is a pleasant change from other biryanis which are usually too heavy on the spices. Do consider browsing through my Etsy shop for more India-inspired art! 

And here is an excellent post by a fellow-blogger if you wish to have the recipe of a kacchi biryani!

I hope you have enjoyed this post! See you in my next one! A la prochaine!