Calcutta Brasserie

Me and my husband have eaten at many Indian restaurants across the country and Calcutta is by far the best. Excellent food, friendly staff all set in stunning surroundings.
We also get a weekly take out which never dissapoints and the Dining in the Dark evening is a must for anyone who enjoys Indian Cuisine.
Would highly recommend this restaurant.

My wife and I have been going since it changed hands three years ago and we have not found a better place to have a curry. She loves her butter chicken but I have become a little more adventurous thanks to the manager Mo who has guided me based on my preference.
Calcutta Brasserie is simply ‘stunning’. I have introduced by in-laws who have a take away at least once a week.
We have all tried different places in MK but I couldnt never go anywhere else.
The service is excellent and if you’re a regular they quickly recognise you.
There are always events on and I particularly like the dining in the dark event – stunning.
There is no wonder as to why this is an award winning restaurant.

the management puts a price on your head and the least it expects you go opt their buffet. should you not decide to follow their orders, be prepared to face their wrath.

in my case, the kitchen was closed without notice and we had to step out of the restaurant half-full. additionally, you might be given an impression that you are not welcome in their restaurant and the fact you are a brown skinned is rubbed onto you.

btw – the food is good. no two ways to that.

The food here is very inconsistent. We ordered a takeaway from here having previously enjoyed their food. However, of the 6 main dishes we ordered 3 were good and 3 were ok. The Chicken Tikka Masala tasted just weird, CHicken Korma far too sweet and Chicken Dansak just filled with tasteless frozen vegetables. The Dhaba Chicken had a nice authentic Indian flavour, Kosha Mangsho was a tasty lamb dish and the Kori Gassi was a lovely South Indian curry with ginger and coconut cream. The Bombay Potatoes were nicely spiced and tender.

Unfortunately the rice was too dry, the onion bhajis were bland and overall the food was incredibly salty. I was awake all night with severe dehydration.

The saltiness is a major put-off, and the food quality is very variable.

I was in the Milton Keynes area recently and stopped off here for our evening meal. I was impressed by the building but its vast size meant it was quite chilly inside but it was very cold outside that night. The menu is expansive and I was delighted to see Masala Dosai on there as I had not had one for years. It was delicious and our mains were also delictable. The service was very good except for a slight delay with the credit card transactions and that was due to the constant ringing for bookings the following evening. I wish it was more local to me as I would definitely be a regular.

The Calcutta Brasserie is an excellent and interesting Indian restaurant in an old building which I believe is a former church, monastery and boy’s home during the Second World War. The building (see pictures) is quite something and certainly makes the dining a little bit special, and fortunately the food lived up to the impressive surroundings.

Complimentary popadoms with onions and chutney arrived whilst we waited for our starters. This ended up being the most disappointing part of the meal. The popadoms themselves were fine, but somehow none of the relishes served with them quite worked: they were all just a little bit too “messed about with”. A nice straight forward mango chutney and raita, in addition to the more exotic variants, would have been welcomed.

We started with Tiranga Samosa (£4.50): 3 somosas containing potato and peas, chicken and red peppers, duck with five spices; I had Zafrani Murgh Tikka (£3.95): chicken tikka – both were excellent. For mains we shared Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani (£8.95): braised basmati rice cooked with chicken (or lamb) in a pot sealed with a Naan bread so it cooks in its own juices (see picture) this was intriguing as it looked rather like a pie with the earthenware dish and the Naan lid, it tasted mild but very nice. The other main was Kosha Mangsho (£7.95) slow cooked lamb with aromatic hot spices and caramelised onion and ginger – this was medium spiced but extremely tasty and with plenty of meat. We added to this a Mushroom Combo (£3.95) side dish of chestnut and English mushrooms sautéed in garlic and caramelised onions and a Garlic Naan (£2.50).

Everything we ate, with the exception of the aforementioned relishes with the popadoms, was very good, certainly one of the best Indian meals that I have ever had. The service was a little disappointing, we were served a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon which was white instead of red, but at least they changed it happily and quickly.

So far I’ve only called in once, but if the first visit was anything to go by I will return...

• Update **
  Having now been a few times, I'm reviewing my initial review!

So I'm downgrading it from a 4 to 3* with the warning that it is quite variable...