Food nostalgia: Bengal’s age-old pice hotels making a comeback

Pice hotels are a Bengali phenomenon. ‘Pice’ does not connote ‘paisa’ as some believe. The word has been derived from ‘piece’ because the main dishes (primarily fish) are sold by the piece rather than per plate. Another name for similar establishments was ‘Bhater Hotel’, which literally translated would mean rice, a term used interchangeably for the afternoon meal. But those were a notch lower — usually in roadside shanties or markets.

Pice hotels have a long history. A few go back to over a century. Famous writers, actors of yesteryear and even revolutionaries have been associated with them. Young Bengal Hotel in Kidderpore and (Swadhin) Hindu Hotel in College Street were among the best known. The specialty of these eateries was fresh seasonal ingredients and simple homestyle cooking. Usually located close to the main markets, one was always assured of the fine quality of fish, the day’s catch and, hence, never stale.

In Kolkata, pice hotels were haunts of outstation students living in hostels, office workers who had daily commutes to the city from mofussil or living away from home and families, junior lawyers, court clerks and sales people. With the demographic profile of the city changing, as also the taste of people with fast food restaurants and upgraded dhabas, pice hotels were set to die a slow death. But, on the contrary, they have made a quiet comeback with a different set and more affluent clientele.

The reason for that is not far to seek. For one, Kolkata has an ageing population with empty nests. The children have left for other cities or foreign shores in the search of greener pastures. Help at home is increasingly difficult. Daily visits to the market every morning to buy fish — the cherished chore of a true-blue Bengali — gets hard with age. Besides, how much can two people eat? A whole hilsa (that’s the way you buy that fish) can cost anything upwards of Rs 3,000 per kg and even the smaller fish you do not get in just one or two pieces. Besides, in the absence of domestic cooks, making traditional delicacies at home is a challenge.

The situation with the younger generation is not very different. In nuclear families, often with both spouses having a career outside home, cooking is low on priority. Ordering food is common. A part-time cook rustles up the routine necessities. Home cooking may have been a pandemic pastime but even with work-from-home, kitchen work takes a backseat to helping the kids with homework. Now with lockdowns over, weekends are for revenge bingeing in malls and restaurants.

But food nostalgia is a thing. It grows with age. Especially when living away from home. That is where pice hotels made their way into the lives of middle-class Bengalis. Those located in residential areas — such as Tarun Niketan on Rashbehari Avenue near Lake Market — have become such a rage that one is afraid they would soon lose their original character of humble eateries. Then there are some hidden gems like Adarsha Hindu Hotel inside Gariahat Market that still retain their down-to-earth feel with limited offerings. There are also iconic ones like Siddheshwari Ashram in Janbazar, near New Market, where it is difficult to find a seat on weekdays when office goers and shoppers throng the place to the gills literally gorging on infinite varieties of fish.

But even before their revival in Kolkata, one city where pice hotels have thrived for a long time is Siliguri. Being the largest trading centre of North Bengal, Siliguri has also been the gateway to the hills, Dooars, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and transit point for Western Assam. With a sizable floating population, budget eateries are naturally in demand. But what sets apart Siliguri is the abundant supply of fish given its unique situation close to the “chicken’s neck” between Bengal and Bangladesh. Some prime varieties of fish like Chitol, Aar, Boal and even Iilsh (or Hilsa) in season which come in from across the border are the special attraction of Siliguri pice hotels. So food at Adi Kalpana and Kalpataru have become legends of our times.

The pice hotel phenomenon of Bengal can now be seen in other parts of the country too. The traditional “Lunch Homes” of Mumbai have now inspired numerous Konkani and Malwani restaurants across the metropolis. The old style South Indian “Mess” is seeing a resurgence in Tamil Nadu even in big cities like Chennai and Coimbatore.

If one were to ask what comes closest to the Indian version of American diners, views would be divided between dhabas in the North and Udupi restaurants in the South. Over time, pice hotels, messes and lunch homes can vie for place in the same league.

(Sandip Ghose is an author and current affairs commentator. He tweets @SandipGhose.)

Originally published at https://www.newindianexpress.com on January 17, 2024.