Everyday meals at Kolkata's Dacres Lane

Aiema Tauheed

An office break. Sprawling sustenance. Kind invitations of “Didi, bhaat khaabe?” from silver-haired vendors. Wafting aromas and the clatter of cooking and serving. When you are in the thick of Dacres Lane, you couldn’t be anywhere else.

“Jaise Mumbai ka Chowpatty, Dilli ka Sarojini, waise hi Kolkata ka Dacres Lane bahut famous hai,” says a bubbly Camelia Chatterjee, soft-skills trainer and a regular here.

In the heart of Kolkata’s business district, Dacres Lane is a food street which is one of a kind.  Office-goers turn up here, as do students and just about anyone in need of an affordable meal that is hot, clean, nutritious and tasty.

Dacres Lane, also known as James Hickey Sarani, has earned its reputation over the years. Generations of the city’s residents have eaten here. Dishing out the meals are stalls tightly packed together but each with its own identity and special offering of one kind or another.

Food bloggers turn up here these days in search of stories to tell. But this is not the typical Pinterest destination. As a hangout zone it comes with old-fashioned charm, holding its own in a rapidly transforming city. It is no glitzy food court and doesn’t even try to be. It can be sweaty, messy and squishy underfoot, but that is what it is.

What keeps people coming back? It is easy access for sure. You can be in and out without any bother. This is no fancy food hub where you must prepare to enter. Here you drift in and leave unnoticed. For working folks, it is hassle-free food on the go. For student couples it is the safe anonymity of the bustling crowd. But above all it is the affordable prices.

One could have all three meals in a day at the cheapest prices here: breakfast, lunch, and an early dinner. Malai toast is available for Rs 20, and chai starts at Rs 6. For about Rs 30 one can get a filling lunch of kulchas and vegetables from Joy Ma Tara Hotel owned by Arun Da. A chicken roll is available for `60. For rice lovers, a pulao and chicken combo meal costs Rs 100. A few outlets like Janta Hotel remain open for an early dinner, selling rotis for Rs 10 and curry for Rs 35.

“Anytime I feel like eating something I come here. I have been coming here daily for the past 10 years,” says Taraknath, whose office is a three-minute walk away. Ten years, we wonder. Is that the kind of spell that Dacres Lane casts on all its customers?

It is difficult to find meals so affordable

“It’s the familiarity for me. I have been coming here since I was in school. My grandmother would bring my mother along. And my mother continued the legacy by bringing me along,” says Sampreeti, an aspiring English teacher. She says it is as good as homemade food for her.

Camelia thinks of it as the perfect lovers’ lane for college students without the money for expensive cafes. It has cheap food and hidden, congested lanes away from the family’s prying and judgemental eye. She raises her voice to be heard over the clanking and clanging of steel utensils, loud conversations and the sound of heavy rain hitting the makeshift tarpaulin roofs of the stalls. Her eyes light up as she recalls dates over Chitto Da’s famous chicken stew and toast with her boyfriend, now husband.

The relationship with Dacres Lane is a complicated one. It is an unlikely romantic rendezvous. People show up here out of necessity, but the ambience stays with them.

Today, both Camelia and her husband, Chandan, are here to take a break from the admission processes of the premium schools around. Where else would they go but Dacres Lane?

Chandan is now a businessman who does not elaborate on their romantic trysts in years gone by. But he agrees that this was and remains one of the cheapest places to eat. Where else could one have a meal with a bottle of water for just Rs 50?

Bubai Da tears up, recalling Chitto Babu whose iconic stall, started all of 72 years ago, he now manages. The stall is famous for its signature dishes of chicken stew, fish fry, and butter toast. It was Chitto Babu who set the tone for Dacres Lane — good food at affordable prices. He began with ghugni (chickpea curry), butter toast, and chai.

From politicians to football enthusiasts, Chitto Babu’s regular customers show up at their chosen hours for conversations over fish fry and tea. Bubai Da proudly tells us that films like Kahaani featuring Vidya Balan were shot here, and among the personalities to stop by have been Mithun Chakraborty and Prosenjit Chatterjee.

The stall serves around 2,000 customers per day. They use Bisleri mineral water for cooking, consuming about 200 litres daily. And, he says, they make an effort to maintain hygiene with the use of phenyl and bleaching agents as much as possible.

He mentions that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been planning to improve the cleanliness of the area: she stated, “Ami Dacres Lane ke shajabo.” Bubai Da notes that this initiative was set in motion about a year and a half ago, and changes are already visible by way of food and water inspections.

Classic Fast Food Centre was started by Montu Haldar. He has had a very diverse career, ranging from being a fish trader to running a tea stall. He proudly says, “I’ve been a proper businessman. I’ve run multiple kinds of businesses.” Having worked in so many different ventures, he considers Classic Fast Food Centre to be his final venture.

Another inconspicuous yet intriguing stall in Dacres Lane is Faltu Tea Centre, an eight-year-old establishment owned by Md. Ajaz. ‘Faltu’ literally means useless. When asked about the name, he says with a broad smile that it is a marketing strategy — “It’s a unique name. People see it and come here.”

The stall is renowned for its malai toast, sold for Rs 20. “Anywhere else, these are sold for Rs 50 or 60,” he notes. Ajaz uses Kolkata Corporation’s fresh meetha paani for cooking. Regarding garbage disposal, he says that the Corporation collects it regularly. “Problem usko hota hai jo paisa nahin deta,” he adds.

Cities are big levellers. They promote innovation and enterprise. Everyone is in and anything is possible. Dacres Lane with its inexpensive meals and welcoming atmosphere is an example of how there is always something for everyone.