The Steak Factory

I should begin with a confession. I actually visited this place exactly two months back. I have been meaning to write a post about it but then there goes the same, old story of postponement and procrastination. Then there were at least 40 photographs of the place including the food and I had to sort the best ones. This is the problem of having a camera phone. The moment there is something remotely photogenic (or not) an impulse arises, then the finger goes berserk and before you knew it you end up having twenty something shots of a glass of overpriced, fancy soda water on your phone, taken from various angles.

So it was a hot and humid June afternoon we decided to pay a visit to this place that I had heard about a year back but never had a chance to visit since. The Steak Factory is a very small diner solely dedicated to the carnivorous clan of gluttons. People call it a restaurant but the whole place basically consists of two small adjoining rooms on the ground floor of an old south Calcutta house – one is the dining room and reception, another being the kitchen. The room's brightly painted red walls were adorned with retro movie posters and funny one-liners. A blackboard announcing the Happy Hour deals scribbled in coloured chalks.

We had the entire place to ourselves that afternoon. Which was good. I don’t enjoy random people’s company, especially in such close quarters. However one small group had appeared somewhere in between and shuffled through the menu for a while, asked the waiter (who was also the maitre d and the receptionist) whether biryani was available and left evidently disheartened. Ok, no comment.

We ordered Spicy Chilli Pork and Cheese Garlic Bread in appetizer along with two glasses of Blue Lagoon. We had to eat a lot of pork during our Bhutan trip and they cooked us really awful pork curry. It was rubbery and stale. So I was apprehensive before trying the pork here. It turned out to be the best pork dish I have ever had so far.

On main course I ordered a cheese steak and my friend ordered a plain steak. I don’t like beef at all, so I took chicken. The steak came wrapped in a thick layer of baked cheese with side toppings of boiled vegetables and mashed potato. Needless to say I could not finish the entire steak all by myself.

The Steak Factory might not have the fake, extravagant appearance (remember Bodega Blah Blah We-Will-Rob-You Bar?), but the food quality is definitely great. And the waiter (cum the receptionist cum the maitre d) was a nice, polite man who was really hospitable to us. It is a good place to satiate your meat craving without burning a hole in the pocket.

Tshirt: Max, Skirt: Lara Karen