{"id":104,"date":"2018-05-01T05:15:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T23:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/34.22.110.190\/english\/?p=104"},"modified":"2021-01-05T03:14:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T21:44:16","slug":"a-beef-centric-restaurant-menu-means-making-a-statement-in-todays-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/a-beef-centric-restaurant-menu-means-making-a-statement-in-todays-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Kolkata’s beef cafe makes a bold statement in today\u2019s India"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a pity if you haven\u2019t 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\u2019t 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 caf\u00e9, Shim Shim on Kolkata\u2019s Bright Street, at Park Circus.<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, beef is more of a political word than a food item these days. In today\u2019s India, you either eat beef discretely, or make a political statement by \u201cdisclosing\u201d that you eat it. There\u2019s a distinct possibility that some of your closest \u201cfriends\u201d, acquaintances, neighbours, extended family members will distance themselves if they learn this terrible secret about you.<\/p>\n

We ask Doma what prompted her to make beef the restaurant\u2019s main draw. \u201cThere are many such caf\u00e9s in the hills, but no such restaurants in metro cities. Momos are very popular these days \u2013 from tandoori chicken momos to chocolate momos. But to me, what we\u2019ve eaten from our childhood, beef momos are the real momos.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bite into Shim Shim\u2019s beef momos will transport you instantly to the pristine hills.<\/p>\n

Doma says that there is a huge demand for beef in restaurants. \u201cMy Muslim friends who enjoy eating outside love beef. So do many non-Muslim friends.\u201d Being in West Bengal for 30 years has also given her the courage, \u201cthe government and the people here are tolerant and live peacefully\u201d.<\/p>\n

The demand for beef is indeed huge in India. According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) round of 2011, and an article here<\/a>, there are 80 million people \u2013 one out of every 13 Indians \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s beef caf\u00e9 is not just about food \u2013 it is also a brave statement in today\u2019s India.<\/p>\n

We found Poorna Banerjee, food blogger, having lunch with a couple of friends there. \u201cSome 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u2019ve ever sipped the Tibetan butter tea on a trip to Tawang or thereabouts, you know this is a rare treat in a city.<\/p>\n

We also found Sohini Basu, owner of Mrs Magpie at Shim Shim. \u201cI wanted to come and I haven\u2019t been disappointed. It is a rare treat for Kolkata\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nigerian footballer Emeka Ezeugo who played for Mohammedan Sporting club in Kolkata during the 80s, walked in with a bunch of friends. \u201cKolkata is a great food destination and the entire food journey has been wonderful!\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the Shim Shim video here!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a pity if you haven\u2019t 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\u2019t perhaps known what it means to be fed with warmth and love at a restaurant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-bengal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}