Kolcata Cricket Club. A swing, a miss and an occasional no ball.
- Felix Marrow
- 15 hours ago
- 4 min read
When you set out to create a fine dining version of street food, with a nod to a specific regional cuisine, you have to get it right. From end to end, you are setting yourself up to be judged and despite the reviews we read online, we had to give this place an opportunity to surprise us. Kolkata Cricket Club is nestled on the first floor of Crown Melbourne. It's less a restaurant and more a fever dream conjured from old colonial clubs, sticky with history, dark rum and the scents of masala drifting over a lazy afternoon test match. The culinary maestro behind the wicket, Mischa Tropp was the head chef and owner of Fitzroy's wildly popular Toddy Shop, who was awarded Gourmet Traveller's best new talent in 2024. From lofty heights some fall.
For Mischa, this is a deeply personal project. Raised in Melbourne but deeply connected to his Indian heritage, he isn’t peddling clichés or butter chicken for the masses although, ironically his butter chicken is already supposed to be one of the finest this city’s ever seen. We cant agree.
The space is thoughtful and plays to the colonial idea of the subcontinent with rattan chairs, cricket bats mounted like relics, palm prints and a bar where Kingfisher is the beer of choice. For me, it sits somewhere between kitsch and cool, considered and carries just enough wink and nod to its namesake city without veering into parody. The restaurant is split into two zones with a more casual front bar where you can sip and snack and a more formal dining room where things get serious.
For us, this is where the problems arose. The service is great, leaning towards warm and polite, but the floor staff struggle to deal with kitchen issues. The menu is patient, layered and with a few explosive deliveries that catch you off guard. But the portion sizes and the wait feels like day 5 of an obviously drawn test match. Beyond slow, it was both languid and lethargic, causing us to drink a little more than planned.
The food is also a little hit and miss. Puchka, Kolkata’s take on pani puri bursts with tamarind and excitement. Charcoal barramundi comes tandoor licked and gorgeously tender while the kosha mangsho, a Bengali goat curry, arrives like a love letter to the motherland; sticky, rich and unapologetically bold. It’s Indian food, sure. But it’s also deeply Australian. Local produce sings and the fusion isn’t forced but fluent. But we want more of it. Two reasonably hungry people are not wanting to leave still hungry and much poorer for the experience. And that butter chicken though, insipid and oddly sweet, with the chicken on the other side of cooked was a huge disappointment.
This is not just about Tropp but the team at Crown Melbourne, who’ve clearly backed a winner but is it too soon to put Tropp under the kind of pressure he is here? It’s a rare thing to see such a personal, heartfelt venture housed inside a casino complex where many have failed before or where the polish has worn off quickly. Crown has oft sent in young talent early in the batting order, only to release them just as quickly. There have been too many quick innings for some chefs. Recently awarded its first hat after only six months of opening (there have to be some rules about this madness), its unsurprising there is this kind of hype.
The service is slick but not sterile, staff seem to be happy and they’ve got a twinkle in their eye. But there is that wait. It just takes so long to get anywhere on this culinary journey. We mention this to the staff and there is all but an eye roll, is if they had heard that feedback enough today already.
The drinks list is a good mix of native Australian botanicals sidling up to spice infused house cocktails and a wine list that’s both big on character and low on pretension. But again, this is not for the budget diner or drinker. That rent at Crown has to be covered somehow right? The great mistake of selling wine available at the big drinks sheds means we know how much we can buy it for and a 400% mark up is simply taking the piss. We expect these faults are more Crown than Kolkata's but couldn't get an open answer. And $340-$680 for NV champagne is beyond the pale.
Its quite buzzy, trading we expect on the insta hype but we suggest you book ahead, especially if you’re planning to eat during peak service. But that’s the price of playing with the gambling industry one supposes. That and the cost of an ordinary bottle of wine.
Kolkata Cricket Club is a mix of triumphant innings but very poor work in the field from the team on the pitch with Mischa Tropp. The food, while berated as inauthentic online and elsewhere is bold, nostalgic and unafraid to challenge traditionalists. Whether you're here for the goat curry, the butter chicken or just to feel like a member of something special, this could be one club you’ll want to join. They just need to hurry things along.
Kolkata Cricket Club can be found at Crown Casino Melbourne
Open Weds, Thurs and Sunday from 5pm for dinner, Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner.
Comentarios