Pice Hotels

What with all this 'fine dining' experience and  'specialty restaurants' the average street-food eater in Calcutta is on the verge of forgetting pice hotels. I heard of this term in the early 60's when my Dad would tell me about the excellent machher jhol-bhat he used to have at Goalonda Ghat, on the ferry. The machh would be ililish of course, straight from the river. This meal would cost him less than one pice in the 1930's. 

When I grew older, and was in college, I went looking for 'pice hotels' in Calcutta. I spent an entire summer walking the streets of Calcutta discovering among other new things, 'pice hotels' There were several near Sealdah Station and Howrah Station. I remember a vegetarian meal in 1972 would be about 2 to 3 rupees. Fish etc would be a little dearer. The food would be hot and served on clean kolapata. In the Sealdah area the Tower Hotel, was not exactly a pice hotel, but I always loved the food there.

The essence of pice-hotel-food is that there is no choice. The question of a la carte menu.does not exist. Fresh vegetables, fish etc are brought from the market everyday. Only a few items cooked and typically all the food is over by 3pm.(The evening meal is a simple roti-sabzi). A basic daal-bhaat and vegetable curry would cost Rs 10 or so in 2000. Rs 15 in 2011. These pice hotels are not fancy, but they are clean, well lit, no offensive crowd and terrifically good service. 

The hotels, which are now obsolete started in the early 1940's primarily to cater to the large influx of shelter-seekers from East Pakistan. The food was always simple and inexpensive, hence the concept of pice hotels stuck around. I have taken Shantam to Tower Hotel and some other similar places around Sealdah. a meal for just Rs 10.!!!

The Young Bengal Hotel at Khidirpur (Karl Marx Sarani) is another pice hotel which has been around since the 1940's. The original owner Tarapada Guha is no more, but his daughter now runs the place. This is now an upgraded  pice hotel. About 40 covers. Plain board tables. Stainless steel ware (washed in hot water and soap), but what excellent food. Rice and daal, Fish curry, vegetable curry. All for under Rs 20. Maybe Rs 25. Squeaky clean, well lit, good food, good service...... what  else are we looking for?

Pice hotels will have a slate at the entrance. On it will be chalked a simple menu.   

Pabda machher jhaal, 

Lau chhingri, 

Posta alu etc etc etc 

With prices. 

 In recent times, there is cooking gas, Aquaguard drinking water, a refrigerator,  There is a clean wash basin with liquid soap, If you have not eaten at a Calcutta pice hotel ..... well, your search for good Bengali food remains incomplete.