My mother went to Mocambo to listen to Doris Day covers. I went to Mocambo for Fish à la Diana.  Mocambo opened its doors in 1956, a European oasis of glamour and jazz on Park Street, Calcuttas famous cabaret row. Its second-generation owner, Nitin Kothari, called it independent Indias first nightclub, which is plausible, even if impossible to verify. There was a German architect, an Italian manager and, soon after its opening, a 17-year-old chanteuse named Pam Crain, who wore a French evening gown and sang standards with Anton Menezes six-piece band. She had a good voice, she was very good-looking, Mr. Kothari, 61, recalled. Very glamorous.  My father would, of course, wear only proper shoes, no matter the swampy Calcutta heat. I asked my mother if she danced in a silk sari. She denied dancing.  So many stripes of Europeans left their mark on this city  Dutch, Portuguese, Armenian, English  that it seems somehow fitting that in cuisine and cabaret vibe, Mocambo is still an odd jumble of Europeanisms: a mural of faux Degas ballerinas, red vinyl banquettes, red silk lampshades hanging like upside-down tulips, cigarette smoke rising from the tables. Fish à la Moutarde is grilled beckty, a Bay of Bengal delicacy, drenched in a spicy mustard sauce, whose virtues a Bengali can croon about. Angels on Horseback is chicken wrapped in bacon. Fish à la Diana is indulgence itself: beckty, stuffed with prawn and cooked in cream.  The most expensive dishes range around 200 Indian rupees, or $4.60, at 44 rupees to the dollar. The best choices on the cocktail menu: Indian-made Old Monk rum and Black Dog whiskey (splurge on the 12-year vintage, about 200 rupees a double shot).  The music stopped 20 years ago. Mr. Kothari blamed Communists elected to power. They disapproved of bourgeois indulgences like dancing cheek to cheek, he said. They raised the entertainment surcharge to 30 percent. Others on Park Strip blamed power outages.  Despair  and then globalization  hit the other clubs, one by one. The Blue Fox became a McDonalds and then closed after a gas cylinder exploded. Magnolias Sunday afternoon jam sessions were abandoned. A sprawling KFC opened across Park Street. The only restaurant to still have a live band is Trincas, which began as a tea room.  The government has since dropped the entertainment surcharge. But Mr. Kothari is wary of returning to the past. With Gods grace, we are doing O.K. without music, he said. So why mess around? Mocambo, 25-B Park Street, Calcutta, (91-33) 2229-0095 or 2265-4300.
Although the music is gone from this former oasis of glamour and jazz, the fish is still tasty.