This is India: Christmas

Christmas Eve in Kolkata we went out for dinner to a place called Mocambo. It is an old restaurant that appears as if it has never been renovated. However, the truth is it has just opened in a new location, after almost 15 years of being closed. It’s hard to believe when you see the place. The paintings on the walls, the booth seats, and even the waiters’ outfits all seem at the very least 50 years old, and they probably are. I imagine that since the original restaurant close that all these items have been sitting in storage somewhere in Kolkata until it was time for a retro restaurant to reappear. I really wish I could say that I loved the place and that I plan to bring every guest that visits to this restaurant, but I can’t. It was pretty terrible. The food selection was such that I couldn’t figure out what might be good. On advice from my mother-in-law I ordered the risotto. This was NOT risotto. It was a rice dish, however it was dry and pretty tasteless. It was served with whole pods of garlic and though the menu said there would be cheese, I didn’t taste or see any. We left the restaurant and made our way to Park Street to enjoy the Christmas spirit. A small gas station was decorated spectacularly and the attendant agreed to pose for a picture. It’s interesting to note that people rarely fill their tanks full. Its far more common to buy a certain amount of liters. This seems to help people keep track of how much gas they are buying, though I’ve never seen this information recorded in any way.