It’s a pity if you haven’t met Doma Wang yet or been to her restaurants. Not only have you missed the lip-smacking deliciously good meals cooked by her, you haven’t perhaps known what it means to be fed with warmth and love at a restaurant. We met her for the first time in April-end when we heard she had opened a beef café, Shim Shim on Kolkata’s Bright Street, at Park Circus.
Come to think of it, beef is more of a political word than a food item these days. In today’s India, you either eat beef discretely, or make a political statement by “disclosing” that you eat it. There’s a distinct possibility that some of your closest “friends”, acquaintances, neighbours, extended family members will distance themselves if they learn this terrible secret about you.
We ask Doma what prompted her to make beef the restaurant’s main draw. “There are many such cafés in the hills, but no such restaurants in metro cities. Momos are very popular these days – from tandoori chicken momos to chocolate momos. But to me, what we’ve eaten from our childhood, beef momos are the real momos.”
A bite into Shim Shim’s beef momos will transport you instantly to the pristine hills.
Doma says that there is a huge demand for beef in restaurants. “My Muslim friends who enjoy eating outside love beef. So do many non-Muslim friends.” Being in West Bengal for 30 years has also given her the courage, “the government and the people here are tolerant and live peacefully”.
The demand for beef is indeed huge in India. According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) round of 2011, and an article here, there are 80 million people – one out of every 13 Indians – eating beef or buffalo meat. Around 63.4 million Muslims eat beef/buffalo (40% of the Muslim population), another 12.5 million Hindus eat beef (less than 2% of the Hindu population). In percentage terms, this figure is 26.5% for the Christians.
And yet the fact remains only few states in India now permit the slaughter of cows. There have been horrific incidents of lynching on grounds of beef consumption (even for alleged storing of meat) all over India over the past few years. And therefore, under this backdrop, Doma Wang’s beef café is not just about food – it is also a brave statement in today’s India.
We found Poorna Banerjee, food blogger, having lunch with a couple of friends there. “Some places in Lucknow that used to serve great beef, have discontinued it. The food, the ambience at Shim Shim will make you want to come here again and again,” she said.
Shim Shim also serves kofta, thukpa, Mongolian beef, Hong Shah Neuro (beef stew with potatoes, carrot, flavoured with star anise), beef with French beans, stir fried noodles with beef mince, chilli beef with ginger pepper rice, shaphalay (Tibetan stuffed pie) and excellent Nepalese homestyle beef curry. And if you’ve ever sipped the Tibetan butter tea on a trip to Tawang or thereabouts, you know this is a rare treat in a city.
We also found Sohini Basu, owner of Mrs Magpie at Shim Shim. “I wanted to come and I haven’t been disappointed. It is a rare treat for Kolkata”.
Nigerian footballer Emeka Ezeugo who played for Mohammedan Sporting club in Kolkata during the 80s, walked in with a bunch of friends. “Kolkata is a great food destination and the entire food journey has been wonderful!”
Watch the Shim Shim video here!