Toong On Church

তুং অন চার্চ

Also known as The old Nanking restaurant building.

A red-brick Chinese temple that once housed the city’s first Chinese restaurant.

About Toong On Church

Built in the 1920s, this handsome brick building has a temple to the warrior-god Kwan Ti on its upper floor. Its ground floor was Nanking, opened in the 1920s and remembered as the first Chinese restaurant in the country, a favourite of film stars before it closed in the 1970s. After years of neglect and a legal fight the community recovered the building.

Why visit

Where India’s love of Chinese food began.

What to see and do

The brick façade with its arcades
The shrine upstairs, when open

Plan your visit

Area: Bowbazar & Old Chinatown, Central Kolkata
Nearest landmark: Tiretta Bazaar
Best time: Morning. October to March is the most comfortable time of year.
Time needed: About 15 minutes
Cost: Free
Entry: Entry is controlled (permit, caretaker, service times or event days). A community temple; the interior is open at the community’s discretion. The exterior is on a public lane.
Metro: Central (Blue Line)
Walking: Little walking
Photography: Photography is fine with some care.

Nearby and related places

Sea Ip Church: A Chinese clan temple from 1905, called a church.
Tiretta Bazaar Chinese Breakfast: Momos, pork buns and fish-ball soup sold on the pavement at dawn.
Bow Barracks: A lane of red-brick blocks, home to an Anglo-Indian community and its Christmas.
Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha: The 1892 monastery that gave Buddhist Temple Street its name.
Firingi Kalibari: The Kali temple linked to a Portuguese-descended poet of Bengali song.
Bhim Chandra Nag: An 1826 sweet shop, home of the ledikeni.

Walks that include it

Old Chinatown Exploration: Clan temples, brick barracks and a Kali for a Portuguese poet

More guides

Last checked on 2026-10-02. Each place was checked to exist and its position confirmed. Timings, closing days and ticket prices are shown only where known and can change: confirm before you travel.