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Time Out
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Kolkata Social
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here. The poetry of Tagore. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. The roar of a cricket match at Eden Gardens. Kolkata – once the capital of British India and formerly called Calcutta – pulses with poetry, politics and passion. And now, you can have a taste of the 'City of Joy' on Newtown 's vibrant King Street. After spearheading Colombo Social, Kabul Social and Kyiv Social, man on a (social justice) mission, Shaun Christie-David, founder of Plate It Forward, opened Kolkata Social in March. You might remember Ukrainian eatery Kyiv Social won Time Out Sydney's Impact Award 2025, so we're excited to see what's on offer. It's a sunny Sunday when we are seated in a cobalt blue room with a view to the open red-tiled kitchen where the chef Ahana Dutt is in charge. Kolkata-born, Dutt earned her culinary cred at Firedoor and Raja before Christie-David roped her in. With every set menu ordered, Kolkata Social donates meals to those in need – one in Sydney and one in Kolkata via their charity partner, Calcutta Rescue. This isn't your typical Indian restaurant There's no chicken tikka from North India, or idli sambar from the South. Instead, Kolkata Social is a celebration of Bengali cuisine – and we're here to savour it. First up, our entrées. The dry chilli chicken features boneless chicken bits, batter-fried then tossed in a garlicky sauce with green capsicum and onions. One bite and we're transported straight to Kolkata's Chinatown, the birthplace of 'Indian Chinese ' (IYKYK). Next, moong dal el boram. The menu says 'think falafels, but Indian', and most Indians will recognise them as dal vadas (lentil fritters) sold at street corners as an afternoon snack. Made from a mix of ground moong dal with spices and finely sliced green chilli for punch, these moreish morsels are deep fried and sent to our table piping-hot. We dunk them in the tamarind chutney and think how we'd gobble them up on a rainy day with a cup of chai. Speaking of which, our drinks are served: a lebu cha which is refreshing lemon iced tea with a zing of marmalade; a lassi slushie made with crushed ice; and a glass of Majama Zibibbo – a floral Hunter Valley white with notes of Turkish delight. The drinks menu itself is a nod to nostalgia. Printed on a replica of an old-school Indian inland letter, it's got a variety of whites and reds, beers like Mountain Culture x Kolkata Social lager and the ever-popular Indian beer Kingfisher, as well as some interesting offerings like mini mustard Martinis and vodka-spiked lassi. Our mains arrive – and this is where chef Dutt's homage to her Bengali roots shines The barramundi is served in a smoked yoghurt sauce with a generous slick of mustard oil, the mainstay of any Bengali kitchen. The result? Subtle, smoky, sublime. While Aussies claim barra as their own, you also get Indian barramundi in the mangrove estuaries of West Bengal where it is called 'bhetki'. How's this for a fish curry that connects countries? Our waitress tells us that the goat kosha has been slow cooked for more than six hours – evident from the way the meat falls off the bone into a thick, aromatic curry. We sprinkle the jhoori aloo bhaja – crisp matchsticks of fried potato – over the goat and this combo reminds us of Salli boti, a beloved Parsi dish. Paired with our mains is the birista pulao, taken from Bengali Muslim households, where onions are fried until caramelised and stirred through fragrant, cardamom-scented rice. And then, as a surprise from the kitchen, began and bori is brought to us. Instead of the smokiness of a baigan bharta, this eggplant is cooked down to a luscious sweet-sour pulp in panch phoron (Bengali five-spice) that's perfectly mopped up with some flat bread. Kolkata Social is an ode to chef Dutt's mum Sharmila Basu Thaur and her home-style cooking – apparent from her mural by artist Marlon Dalton in the inner mustard-yellow room that's kissed by the afternoon sun. The menu is novel; the dishes are nuanced. There are no flourishes of this and foams of that, but the food is cooked with finesse. It is food that you can eat with your hands and comes from the heart. Food that makes us want to go in for just one more bite despite the waistband of our protesting jeans. So we oblige, ordering a dessert to share. Not the familiar Bengali sweets of rasgollas or mishti doi, but patishapta, a jaggery and coconut-stuffed crêpe, flambéed in rum and nestled in custard. It's doused with a peg of rum and flambéed in front of us. Devoured in seconds, it's a fitting finale to an exceptionally fine meal.
Time Out
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Not a drill: Aussie icon Nagi from RecipeTin Eats is hosting a lunch in Sydney soon
Now, this is exciting. Nagi Maehashi – Aussie icon, author of two record-smashing cookbooks (Dinner and Tonight), and the brains behind a seriously banging sausage roll recipe – is teaming up with Plate It Forward's Shaun Christie-David for a super special one-off Sydney lunch. Held at soul-warming Ukrainian eatery Kyiv Social – winner of Time Out Sydney's Impact Award 2025 – this edition of Mum Cha will see Nagi, her mum Yumiko, and RecipeTin's head chef Jean-Baptiste 'JB' Alexandre join forces with Shaun and his mum Shiranie to serve up a delicious eight-course meal to hungry Sydneysiders (hi, that's us) that celebrates culture, generations and stories. Guests will enjoy four shared dishes by Nagi, Yumiko and JB, and four from Shaun and Shiranie, plus a cocktail on arrival and free-flowing red and white wine. It's happening on Saturday, June 28 – kicking off from 1pm. And our favourite bit? Dozer, Nagi's beloved senior golden retriever, will also be making a special guest appearance. A social enterprise, Plate It Forward employs, trains and supports people from marginalised backgrounds and those who have experienced adversity (including refugees from war), shining a spotlight on their stories through their venues, including Kyiv, Colombo Social, Kabul Social and Kolkata Social. And as well as creating tasty, bulletproof recipes, Nagi is also passionate about supporting people doing it tough – she's the founder of RecipeTin Meals, a not-for-profit food bank that has donated more than 300,000 meals to Sydneysiders in need. So this is a beautiful collab in our books. Created by Shaun and Shiranie, Mum Cha is a monthly celebration of the women and mothers in life who inspire us – and a way to bring people together over love and a banging meal. Tickets to Mum Cha with Nagi, Yumiko and JB, as well as Shaun and Shiranie, cost $150 per person. They go on sale at 4pm today (Thursday, May 29), Sydney time. You can snap yours up here.
AU Financial Review
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
Australian chefs share the tasty tips their mothers taught them
It may well be the profession most influenced by mothers. Through formative childhood experiences in the kitchen and recipes passed down from one generation to the next, chefs around the world often credit their love of food and passion for cooking to their mums. Life & Leisure spoke to three of Australia's top restaurateurs to find out the lessons they learnt from their mothers and how that relationship has shaped their careers. Shaun Christie-David and his mum, Shiranie Shaun Christie-David runs Colombo Social, Kyiv Social, Kabul Social and Kolkata Social, all in Sydney, and the social enterprise Plate It Forward, which provides restaurant-quality meals to those in need. This year he launched 'Mum Cha' at Colombo Social – a monthly series where chefs and other food identities cook alongside their mothers.
