Bengal Dreams, Evesham

ON the night before Halloween it was with high hopes we entered Bengal Dreams, hoping our food wouldn’t be the stuff of nightmares.

Thankfully, the only spooky apparition was a gaggle of fabulous looking she-devils, replete with horns, enjoying a birthday curry as we were shown to our seats.

As for the food, there was nothing ethereal, just a fine array of hearty, spicy dishes on offer to ward off the seasonal chill.

The restaurant, formerly the Pretty Raj, has only been open for a month or so and its bid to entice customers can’t be helped by the temporary scaffolding outside. It is due to come down by the end of November.

However, once inside, the décor was clean. The restaurant was a spacious affair with white walls, faux leather high back chairs with recessed halogen lighting; all perfectly standard and acceptable. More importantly, Bengal Dreams is a bring-yourown booze establishment.

So, my pals and I uncorked a red and perused the menu. The usual mix of house, classic and chef specialities were on offer but the combination dishes – two curries served in a dividing dish – caught my eye.

After munching some crisp poppadoms with very generous and tasty dip portions, we decided to order.

One friend and I liked the look of the combination starter (£4.50 each) to share and our friendly waiter assured us there would be plenty of room for mains if we took it nice and easy.

The well-presented platter was heaving with succulent chunks of tandoori chicken, pakoras, sheek kebabs and onion bhajis. It was a veritable feast and tasty, too. My other friend opted for prawn pathia on puree (£3.25).

She said the prawns were succulent and the pancake, was just the right. For mains I simply had to try one of the combination dishes.

From a choice of seven I opted for a plate divided between chicken rezela and lamb pasanda (£7.95), served with a side dish of vegetable pilau rice (£2.50).

The chicken curry with its piquant sauce and spices blended well with the milder, tender and creamy pasanda. Both dishes were exquisite and the fresh, chunky vegetables in the rice tasted superb.

One pal also commented on the quality of her vegetable rice which complemented her mains of tandoori fish (£7.95). The silver pomfret fish, marinated in a delicate sauce, certainly looked tender and she loved its melt-inthe- mouth quality.

After much deliberation with our patient waiter her husband chose the house speciality asar chicken tikka (£6.95).

The marinated chicken, cooked with green chilli, herbs and lime pickle was described as “fairly hot” but certainly not too hot for his palate and he polished it off with aplomb.

Bengal Dreams may not look like a vision from the outside but inside the food, service and ambience makes it a hot contender for a return visit.

HOW IT RATED

Food: 4★
Service: 4★
Value for money: 4★
Ambience: 3★