Bengal Village - A Fierce Battlecat or a Cringer-ly Pussy Cat?

The Oakham Curry Club (OCC) is one of the world's most respected reviewers of Indian cuisine. With multiple international franchises, we relentlessly scour the globe in pursuit of the crispiest poppadoms, the tastiest curries, and the spiciest sauces.

On Friday 14th January 2022, the Oakham Curry Club (OCC) sidled up to Bengal Village - Best of Brick Lane in anticipation of what mouth watering delights the evening had to offer to blow away the January blues. With this establishment playing host to our first UK meet of 2022, expectations were high from the group of 10 present that evening.

With the venue nestled on the world famous Brick Lane, London - expectations were high in regards to what London’s curry strip had to offer. Read on…

Customer Care - 5.8/10

Booking over the phone I was greeted very politely, likewise when phoning up to confirm the day before. Disappointingly, turning up with the OCC brethren to be greeted with no booking in their diary was extremely disappointing.

Thankfully there was space, so we were duly seated and left to our own devices - no warmth in the greeting or made to feel welcome, not a great start. As the meal got underway, there was no apparent care or attention given to the majority of the group - granted in a somewhat busy restaurant, however we were a little disappointed.

Atmosphere - 7.45/10

Although not the largest of venues, there was a nice buzz about the place - with our distinguished club on one side of the restaurant, another similarly sized group of 10 or so the other and a few other tables dotted about, there was a nice feel about the restaurant on a cold night in January.

Service - 6.05/10

A constant flow of food and drinks arriving throughout the meal was met with few complaints in regards to service. Most of the starters arrived together, with mine being one of the first, yet was cold (lamb chops) - v disappointing. Some of the starters (mixed tandoori) looked sizzlingly delightful, with huge praise heaped on the quality by some members. Chalk and Cheese is not what the doctor ordered!

Quality - 5.03/10

Let the people be the judge on the quality:

• Very watered down curry but tasty.

• Every curry looked the same which was telling, and mine genuinely had no flavour

• Stained table cloth before I sat down made me wonder if these are the standards front of house then what are the back of house standards like. Good starter, mains still have some work to be done

• Juicy starter, main course was nice but just nice, the special to share was very tasty

• Felt portions were small in mains. Vindaloo with 2 spuds. Also vindaloo was madras heat and waiter wouldn’t let me order London’s hottest curry but eventually after complaints let me try the phall sauce. And then insisted that it was on the menu when clearly it wasn’t . The sauce was defo hot but just tasted of capsicum

• Standard brick lane. Overpriced and poor take away like food

• Completely forgettable, only redeeming feature was starter was massive

Some mixed reviews there on quality, with much room for improvement in our opinion.

Value - 4/10

Be sure to take a little extra in the sky rocket when the bill arrives, as this venue’s price doesn’t marry up to the quality of the food on display. Our group judged the meal to be much too pricey for what was delivered to the table - taking into account its location.

-----------------

Scores:

Customer Care - 5.8

Atmosphere - 7.45

Service - 6.05

Quality - 5.03

Value - 4

Overall Rating - 5.67/10

Disappointed with the dining experience overall, with little attention to detail or customer care, which goes such a long way when considering whether to dine here again.

Be sure to visit our website for more alternatives in and around the London area - and with branches globally, you may soon find yourself not far at all from a branch of the OCC (give or take a few 1,000 miles perhaps).

Until next time….

May your poppadoms be crispy, sauces tasty and curry spicy...OCC OCC OCC