The bustling “Mini Bangladesh” hubs—Marquis Street, Free School Street, Collin Street—once thrived on a steady stream of Bangladeshi visitors. But with regional tensions and visa restrictions escalating, footfall has collapsed. Tourist arrivals have dwindled to just a fraction of pre-crisis numbers, with hotel occupancy plummeting to around 25% and eateries reporting daytime crowds reduced by over two-thirds. In response, Kolkata restaurateurs are dramatically slashing menu prices, shifting their focus toward local diners, and pitching to corporate clients for catering contracts . Some even temporarily shuttering or repurposing storefronts, while a handful have reopened during festive seasons like Ramzan to sustain operations.

As a result, cooking styles and menus in these eateries are evolving: dishes once tailored to Bangladeshi palates—such as hilsa-based specialties and Dhakai fish curries—are now often replaced with more locally popular Bengali staples and pan-Indian comfort food, aimed at enticing domestic customers. In short, Kolkata’s food scene is undergoing a scaled-down, locally focused transformation driven by its sudden pivot from cross‑border to home‑market demand.

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