Twenty years of keeping it light.
Shimla started on EM Bypass with one idea: biryani that tastes rich but never sits heavy. Two decades and four restaurants later, that’s still the brief.
We don’t cook biryani to knock you out. We cook it so you plan your next visit before the plate is cleared.
That means a measured hand with ghee, spice that warms rather than burns, and rice that stays separate, fluffy and fragrant. It means a potato and an egg in every portion, because in Kolkata that isn’t optional.
The kitchen has grown around the biryani: a full tandoor, Mughlai curries like rezala and chanp, and the Kolkata Chinese the city grew up on. The rooms grew too, with chandeliers, warm light and tables long enough for the whole family.
Four steps. No shortcuts.
Marinate
Meat rests overnight in yoghurt and whole spice.
Layer
Part-cooked rice over meat, potato and egg, with kewra and saffron.
Seal
A rope of dough locks the lid so no steam escapes.
Open
Low flame, then the seal is broken and the handi goes straight out.
A Kolkata story, 170 years in the making.
When the last Nawab of Awadh moved to Metiabruz in 1856, his cooks came with him. The story goes that they added potato to the biryani, and the city never let it go. Kolkata biryani became its own thing: lighter, subtler, and built to be shared.
From one kitchen to four rooms
The first Shimla kitchen opens. Word spreads one handi at a time.
A second Shimla opens in Tiljala and becomes a neighbourhood regular.
A gold, black and grey room with Mughal jaali. The first Shimla up north.
The biggest room yet, looking out over the Clock Tower.
A fourth room near Ruby, Shimla catering across the city, and a new Shimla coming soon on B.T. Road, Dunlop–Rathtala More.