Arsalan

Arsalan is a biryani restaurant at 191 Park Circus 7 Point Crossing in Park Circus, south-central Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It serves the Kolkata style of biryani, in which a whole potato and a boiled egg are cooked into the rice alongside the meat, a variation that distinguishes the city's biryani from the Hyderabad and Lucknow styles. It was named a Kolkata 'OG', alongside Peter Cat, at the 2026 EazyDiner Kolkata Foodie Awards, a recognition of its long-standing standing among the city's diners.

The chicken or mutton biryani with aloo and egg is the dish most visitors order, and it is usually enough for a full meal. Chicken chaap, a mild, creamy dish of chicken in a rich gravy, and chicken rezala, a white, delicately spiced curry, are the standard companions, and firni, the chilled rice pudding, is the usual dessert. Together they cover the Mughlai-influenced cooking that grew up in Kolkata's Muslim neighbourhoods and became part of the city's everyday diet.

The dining room is large, busy and informal, with a fast-moving atmosphere. Queues form at lunch and at weekend dinner, and the noise level can be high at peak times. Service is quick and practical, and families, office groups and students fill the tables. There is no emphasis on a beverage programme beyond soft drinks and traditional sweet drinks.

Prices of roughly 450 to 900 rupees per person make it a budget-friendly meal for the quality and portion size. It is open daily, generally from about 11AM to 11PM, though timings can change around festivals such as Durga Puja. Reservations are not usually taken, and walking in is the norm, so arriving early or outside peak hours is the best way to avoid waiting. The Park Circus location is a short distance from Park Street, which makes it easy to combine with a visit to the heritage restaurants there and compare the two styles of Kolkata eating.