Picture by Rashbehari Das

For a city that loves its fish, a seafood restaurant is always welcome. Flamez, located at 55A Mirza Ghalib Street, is the new kid on the foodie block.

With the spotlight firmly on quality of food and the affordability factor, the design is minimal at this 75-seater, 2,000-sq-ft restaurant.

The menu features some enticing exotic names. Giant crabs roasted in Coorgi style, Boneless Whole Hilsa cooked in Mustard Sauce, Hilsa Tawa Kebab, Fusion Kebabs and Shrimp Kulchas are the specialities here. A touch of innovation has gone into Stuffed Squid, which is whole squid stuffed with cuttlefish, prawn and crabmeat in a special sauce. That’s a must-try.

But vegetarians need not be scared away. Flamez has also rustled up a leafy menu with dishes cooked in coastal style, like Goan Vegetable Korma and Vegetable Chettinad. Most of these come with spicy gravies, coconut-based curries and masalas sourced from different parts of the country.

And now, the good news. The team running the Flamez kitchen boasts Porto Rio pedigree, the former food stop at Circus Avenue which had given Calcutta one of its earliest tastes of coastal cuisine.

“We want to bring coastal cuisine from various parts of the country. We want to give people quality seafood at affordable prices,” says Avirup Chakraborty, the CEO of Flamez. The restaurant is a division of CAC, a seafood processing and export company, which means access to fresh supplies for Flamez.

The lunch timings are noon to 4pm; dinner is from 6.30pm to 11.30pm. A meal at Flamez comes for around Rs 225.