Herald<\/a> from 2005 reported that a bottle of Allan Scott sauvignon blanc cost $34. The slightly more premium Nautilus sauvignon is currently on offer at $45 which seems like very decent management of inflation, particularly given liquor levies in that time have doubled (even tagged to CPI the price should have been $57). <\/p>\nFood costs are predictably more depressing – saag gosht is exactly twice as expensive as 20 years ago, while dal makhani has increased by 150%. I hope you enjoyed this rare foray into economic analysis as much as I did.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The delicate samosas are served with tamarind chutney. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
The food is so very good. There are enough great options here that you could visit three or four times and not run out of things you\u2019re delighted to eat. <\/p>\n
After huge amounts of discussion with my pescatarian dining partner, I chose samosas, onion bhaji, garlic naan, black lentil dahl, paneer curry and mutton (everything is seafood, I told her, if you go back far enough). <\/p>\n
Helpfully, the menu highlights specialties of the house, so if you\u2019re on a first visit like I was, you have a nice little guide – or you can get the tasting menu and leave all the thinking to them.<\/p>\n
The samosa was much more delicate than the ones you\u2019ll sometimes see in a dairy pie warmer, with none of that telltale pocket of air between filling and pastry. Here it is sliced in two through the middle and served with a tamarind chutney and it\u2019s just perfect. <\/p>\n
Onion bhaji is their own take on the classic, with individual pieces of onion battered in chickpea flour, fried until rusty-brown and tossed in moreish spices.<\/p>\n
All three curries were distinct – the dark meaty gravy of the mutton, the delicately soft paneer in a bright, sweet-savoury sauce and an intensely buttery, smooth dal makhani that was almost a soup. <\/p>\n
The only criticism you could make is that one did feel they\u2019d turned up the butter, cream and sugar to an 11 to appeal to the basic palate. <\/p>\n
This used to always be the way – and you don\u2019t find it so often now – the result is indulgent, for sure, but you tend to hate yourself a little bit by the time you eat your final few mouthfuls.<\/p>\n
![\"Oh]()
Oh Calcutta in Parnell. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
I should alert you that the low light can make it very difficult to read a menu, but the acoustics are fantastic, thanks to a ceiling makeover a few years ago designed in part to cut down on echoey noise in the dining room. It worked.<\/p>\n
Oh Calcutta may not be the hippest place in Auckland, but you don\u2019t survive 32 years by being fashionable. <\/p>\n
It is simply a restaurant with very high standards, where you feel good as soon as you walk in; where curry-obsessives and butter-chicken eaters can break bread together in a room that will make both feel happy and comfortable.<\/p>\n
Address: 149\u2013155 Parnell Rd, Parnell <\/p>\n
Contact: 09 377 9090, ohcalcutta.co.nz <\/p>\n
Hours: Mon closed, Tue\u2013Wed noon\u20139:30pm, Thu noon\u201310pm, Fri noon\u201310:30pm, Sat 5\u201310:30pm, Sun 5\u20139pm <\/p>\n
From the menu: Aloo Samosa $14.50, Spiced Onion Bhaji $15, Garlic Naan $7.50, Awadhi Mutton Curry $37, Saag Malai Paneer $35, Kaju Paneer Masala $35.50, House Black Dahl $35<\/p>\n
Score: 0-7 Steer clear.8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don\u2019t delay.<\/p>\n
According to dining-out editor Jesse Mulligan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If interesting wines and delicate samosas are what you\u2019re after, you\u2019ll be very happy here. Guys, why didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[85430,74,138,255946,115150,8455,51500,191,99433,702,2537,2538,111,139,69,14994,763,9979,255947,6100,27300,303,6923,4276,29157,1530,15411,6438],"class_list":["post-515315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-85430","tag-after","tag-business","tag-calcutta","tag-delicate","tag-getting","tag-happy","tag-here","tag-interesting","tag-it","tag-jesse","tag-mulligan","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oh","tag-reviews","tag-right","tag-samosas","tag-still","tag-theyre","tag-very","tag-what","tag-why","tag-wines","tag-years","tag-youll","tag-youre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}