Kolkata Cricket Club

Kolkata Cricket Club is a two-parter: a casual front bar where you can perch with a Kingfisher lager and catch a match while chefs pluck puffed naan off the charcoal-fired tandoor; and a white-tablecloth dining room that takes its cues from India’s historic members clubs. The 150-seat space, which chef-owner Mischa Tropp opened at Crown Melbourne with business partner Dave Mackintosh (Ides and Lee Ho Fook), is different to his more casual restaurant, Fitzroy’s Toddy Shop.

Where Toddy Shop is a more laidback ode to Tropp’s Keralan heritage, Kolkata is about regional Bengali dishes, combined with pan-Indian crowd-pleasers. Items include tandoor-baked barramundi; woodfired prawns smothered in a coconut and turmeric curry; the pani puri-esque puchka; and a luscious goat curry. Plus, expect favourites like tandoor-cooked kulcha stuffed with curried peas or saffron-braised duck; an elevated saag paneer; and an excellent butter chicken – all carted to the table on copper plates from India, and gold- and red-rimmed English china.

The drinks list, put together by Mackintosh, includes Victoria Bitter and a bespoke KCC lager made by Pirate Life on tap. Plus, inventive cocktails like the Kolkata Colada (with poppy seed and turmeric), the Beach Cricket (with vodka, Pimms, Cointreau, grapefruit and black tea) and Alok’s Old Fashioned (with date, cinnamon and black pepper). There’s also a page dedicated to Indian winemakers in Australia, including Victorian producers Lethbridge, Bindi and Avani.