On the second floor of Lee Road’s Altitude Building, two doors stand side by side, each promising an entirely different night. Open one and you enter a room of roses, softly-lit tables and conversations that slowly give way to dining and dancing. Choose the other and you step into a world that imagines what cocktails might taste like centuries from now.
Like an Alice in Wonderland moment without the rabbit hole, the hardest decision arrives before the first bite or sip. Which world do you enter first?
Across a shared address in Kolkata, stand Tua and Synthe separated by little more than a wall and two distinct philosophies.
Together, Tua and Synthe feel like parallel universes conceived by a trio of founders – Aman Bansal, Omaid Amir and Tabrez Nadeem – who met fittingly over karaoke sessions in the very space they now occupy.
TUA, Kolkata
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Aman recalls, “We joked that in another universe we should work together. One conversation led to another and here we we are!”
Tua was launched on June 24 and Synthe began operations on May 27.
The result is two entirely distinct concepts sharing an address but refusing to borrow each other’s identity.
TUA: A room built around women
Aman explains, “ ‘Tua’ means ‘yours’ in Latin.” The possessive isn’t accidental. The 3,000 square foot, 75-seater restaurant has been imagined as an unapologetically feminine space not in the clichéd sense of pink interiors, but in its emotional architecture. The palette leans towards warm reds, hushed yellow lighting, music curated by an in house DJ who moves between retro and contemporary, roses recur throughout the room and every guest receives a different message embroidered on the table napkin. The one on our table reads, “Drinks Before Decisions”.
Every guest receives a message embroidered on the table napkin.
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The details create a blanket of relatability and intimacy around people. “It is designed with women in mind. They’ve shaped who we are. We wanted them to feel comfortable here,” explains Aman.
Trio of founders: Aman Bansal, Tabrez Nadeem, Omaid Amir
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That philosophy also extends to the restaurant’s tagline: Dance and Dine. “The city has forgotten how to dance. Our idea is simple to dine first, dance later. Good food should naturally put you in the mood to celebrate,” smile Aman and co-founder Tabrez as they share a table with us.
Modern Asian, without the usual suspects
Rather than offering the familiar catalogue of chilli chicken, chilli paneer or American-Chinese staples, Tua’s kitchen, guided by consultant chef Vaibhav Bhargav, explores what the founders call modern Asian alongside contemporary West Asian and European cooking.
The distinction reveals itself immediately. Sous chef Shobuj Sheikh, in charge of continental and the robatayaki counter, presents an expansive Turkish kebab platter with warm flatbread, tzatziki sauce, pink onions, cabbage, lettuce, hummus and a Turkish chilli that lends gentle warmth rather than aggressive heat. He assembled the wrap himself, rolling every element into an impossibly pillowy parcel before insisting on placing the first bite in our hands.
The kebab is beautifully judged, smoky from the grill and remarkably tender, its juices soaking into the warm flatbread without overwhelming it. The Turkish chilli contributes flavour rather than fire, adding a mellow warmth and almost buttery depth that does not burn. Creamy house made tzatziki sauce, crisp vegetables and the soft chew of the bread fold into one another. Each bite is rich but never heavy.
A selection of crowd favourite sushis are available at TUA
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After generous servings of the large platter we try out crowd favourites like the prawn toast, chunky prawns sandwiched between sando style deep fried bread topped with Thousand Island sauce. While the prawns were buttery and luscious, the deep-fried greasy bread is difficult to finish without sharing. More interesting still is the prawn har gow, which comes immersed lightly in an addictive dan dan sauce. It brings a welcome note of richness and spice, adding depth without bullying the natural sweetness of the shellfish. The result is clever, confident and will make you hope no one asks to share.
Cocktails that follow the arc of a night
Rather than naming cocktails after cities or flowers, Tua structures its drinks menu around the emotional progression of an evening. “The cocktails are built around the stages of a night out. They’re easy going. Drinks you can comfortably have four of,” assures Aman.
Bar manager Akash James Mondal enjoys subverting expectations. We anoint the night with Cherry on the Top, where, Akash explains, Jack Daniels is force carbonated with brandy and wine before finishing the drink with clear cola which is a transparent version of Coca Cola that retains familiar flavour while looking almost invisible. Each ingredient is in conversation with one another creating a surprisingly fresh and bracing concoction.
Belonging
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Akash then recommends, Belonging which layers coffee, whisky and Kahlúa beneath a thick and hearty vanilla cream foam finished with dark chocolate. This one has the warmth one would like to have around the fingers after a long day, on a date or while meeting an old friend.
Akash explains that Tua follows a zero waste policy. So many ingredients begin life in Tua’s own kitchen like banana oleo, house made plum liqueur and fresh infusions .
Even the ice receives a great amount of attention. “We source Yukina ice. It keeps the drink cold without becoming harsh on your throat,” explains Akash.
Through another door, another century
Walk next door and everything changes. Synthe seats just 32 guests and the menu shrinks to 22 small plates and 11 signature cocktails.
The lighting is shades of neon which give the atmosphere a futuristic and metallic touch and the Japanese omakase style set up complements that. Mixologist Abhishek Das traces the name of Synthe to Giorgio by Moroder, the spoken word centrepiece of electronic musician duo Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.
Synthe, Kolkata
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“In the song there’s a line that says the synthesiser is a musical instrument that belongs to the future. We took ‘Synthe’ from synthesiser,” points out Abhishek.
Abhishek is instantly recognisable by his striking black and white spectacles, their mismatched lenses almost mirroring the bar’s philosophy of two different perspectives held effortlessly in the same frame. Like Synthe itself, they are playful, futuristic and a little offbeat.
Charred Grilled Prawns
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The food menu comprising 22 dishes is balanced evenly between vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings. Highlights are the Tokyo Crunch Royale, where crisp rice meets creamy avocado tartare; the ink dark Blackout Futomaki wrapped around charcoal asparagus tempura; the Tropical Fire Bird, lacquered with a glossy mango habanero glaze that balances sweetness with measured heat; and Charred Grilled Prawns, finished with yuzu chilli butter that has a delicate aftertaste. Every plate is calibrated to sit alongside the cocktails rather than compete with them.
While Tua celebrates the present, Synthe speculates about tomorrow. Its cocktail programme unfolds across an imagined timeline stretching from 2030 to 2130, each drink representing a philosophical milestone in humanity’s future. As the night turns younger and more people trickle in, Abhishek is found deconstructing and reconstructing the idea behind each drink to patrons.
Drinking tomorrow
As we glance through the menu, our journey begins with Reclamation (2030) a meditation on returning to healthier ways of living. Vodka meets cucumber, mint, basil, shiso and fresh greens.
Cocktails at Synthe
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Then comes Synthesis, where tequila, pineapple and coconut occupy one layer while oxidised red wine floats above it.
“Two distinct layers becoming something entirely new. That’s synthesis,” says Abhsihek confidently.
By 2060, scarcity arrives. The appropriately named Restrain pares everything back into an old fashioned built from Johnnie Walker Black Label, cask influences and chamomile.
Cocktails at Synthe are formulated keeping in mind how drinks in the future may look like
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Then comes perhaps the menu’s most intellectually playful cocktail. Unlearn asks guests to reconsider familiar flavours through tomato juice, strawberry and vinegar. For the garnish the cherry tomato is frozen inside the ice itself visible giving it a very surreal look and feel. “You can see it. But you can’t touch it. Sometimes you have to look at things differently,” adds Abhishek.
The drinks continue unfolding like chapters.
Nostalgia reimagines the Rum Old Fashioned, acknowledging that even while imagining the future we remain tethered to memories tied to our school and college days.
Dominance with Depth revisits the Martini, softening its formidable personality with added finesse.
The Synthe experience is inspired by the Japanese concept of omakase, or “I leave it to you”. The narrative driven menu has been curated by beverage consultant Ankur Chawla . It sounds whimsical until the drink arrives. Each drink, Aman says, was experimented upon and perfected over three months before improvising and integrating changes.
Each drink at Synthe was experimented upon and perfected over three months before improvising and integrating changes.
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Though they occupy adjoining addresses, Tua and Synthe could not be more different. One wraps you in the warmth and easy comfort of shared plates, long conversations and the promise of a dance after dinner. The other strips everything back, inviting you into a sleek, speculative future where every cocktail imagines what we might drink a century from now. Beneath their contrasting personalities lies a sincere faith in detail and an intuitive understanding of people. And perhaps the real wonder of those two neighbouring doors is that they open into two beautifully different ideas of hospitality each worth crossing the threshold for.
₹3,000 for two. At Lee Road, Kolkata. For more details call, 9230197489
