Doma Wang, owner of Blue Poppy restaurant, who is often referred to as the ‘Momo Queen’ of Kolkata has been always known as someone who has followed her passion. Giving Kolkata an authentic taste of Tibetan and Nepali flavours to the taste of the hills the city will be grateful for that. The Tibetan delicacies at Blue Poppy are an all time hit. 

“The Momo queen of Kolkata”, how much you this is is actually a burden to carry the title as you can’t let yourself down ever.


The momo queen of Kolkata is a title given to me by the people who have eaten the momos I have made and it’s defiantly not a burden cause it’s a reminder of the love I have earned in my thirty years in the industry. 

Where did you learn the fine art of momo making?

During my childhood days in Kalimpong we always had momos for lunch on Sunday’s. I remember trying to help my father and he looked at my momo with disgust and said that no one would eat my momo as it was thick and the shape was ugly. I was nine then and made a promise to myself that I would make him proud one day. So I kept practising under his guidance and managed to finally make them exactly the way he did. My father is instrumental in shaping me and my momos .. 

Why did you have the thought of opening a restaurant after living for so long in the city. What have been your inspirations behind your hard work?

Courtesy The Blue Poppy - Thakali

 

When my elder daughter was born thirty years ago, I was asked by the company I work for to relocate to the city of Gaya in Bihar. I couldn’t think of leaving my child and the city of Kolkata and so decided to quit and start a home delivery outlet from home. I remember the initial days when I used to do everything single handedly from shopping, prepping, cooking and delivering food to my customers on my kinetic Honda. It was much later that I got an opportunity to open my first restaurant, The blue poppy. My inspection has always been my father cause he always talked to me about the dignity of labour and the fact that hard work always pays. 

What’s the USP of Blue Poppy? And which one is your fav dish

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The USP of blue poppy has always been value for money and homely food. My favourite has always been the momos. 

How much do you believe in the fact that a strong kitchen team makes for the success of a restaurant.?

Courtesy The Blue Poppy - Thakali

 

.A happy kitchen team is what one needs to have a successful restaurant, if one is not happy one cannot cook good food. That’s my funda. About having a strong kitchen team .. well most of our boys have been trained by me and my elder daughter Sachiko and we take pride in saying that our core team have been with us since day one of blue poppy. 

What’s your idea of comfort food

My idea of comfort food are a bowl of hot thukpa ( Tibetan noodle soup) and a plate of Gobindobhog rice and Bhetki macher jhol.

After a successful Blue Poppy why you thought of a different concept like Shim Shim and Boma Asian Bakery

Courtesy Boma Asian Bakery

 

The Blue Poppy is now now The Blue Poppy Thakali , it has a better ambiance and extended menu to cater to people food that one would find in the regions of Darjeeling and Sikkim. My children and niece baked during the first lockdown and mastered the art of making Japanese cheese cake, I personally felt that they were delicious and they started as home bakers. Now we have a small cute café cum bakery, this is loved by the younger generation. 

Where do we see you from here. 

Now that the children have grown up and we have my niece Manisha Sangma to help with the business, we hope to make blue poppy a national and eventually an international brand in the near future.