Bengal Spice

Sunday evening, time for another curry. We normally resort to takeaway in front of the TV but, having been inside for most of the day, R and I decided to make the trip to Bengal Spice, another Holloway curry house. We arrived at about 9pm and the place was pretty empty, with only two other tables busy. I don’t particularly like eating under the scrutiny of the staff (ok, this may be my paranoia, but the hush of a dead room is pretty disconcerting) but we’d got this far and weren’t about to turn back.

More white tablecloths, gently abstract art on the walls and a television playing Bollywood tunes, waiters propping up the bar. Unfortunately, R sat facing outwards which meant he spent most of the meal transfixed by the dance routines, while I got the wall. Two more poppadoms to start, slightly thick but fresh. Service was as discreet as it could be, given that by the time our meals arrived we were the only ones left. R opted for the green chicken massala which was impressively fresh looking with a strong chilli kick, and lemon rice on the side. Feeling greedy I ate my way through most of amchoor lamb (cooked with mustard seeds), dall, pilau rice and a nan bread. The nan was great, part blackened and crunchy, part soft and chewy, while the rice did what it said on the tin. The lamb was a bit fatty but tasty enough.

We had a small bicker when R headed outside for a cigarette after he’d finished his meal, leaving me alone and blank, but he came back in quickly to avoid a fight that was brewing down the road. Together with a glass of wine and a beer, the bill came to about £30. The place suffered from my experience at Indian Ocean the night before. Food was fine, if unexciting, but the restaurant really lacked atmosphere and needed more people in it. A decent staple if you’re in the area but in future I’d walk the extra ten minutes for a really good curry.

Indian Ocean

On Saturday I fancied some trad pub grub, but my local had stopped serving early, at 8.30pm “because of Arsenal”. I can’t even pretend to know what this means – had the fans eaten all the bangers? Onwards and upwards. Tapas was next on the hitlist but the restaurant was packed out, so C and I ended up in the Indian Ocean, gorging on curry. We were lucky to get in there, at 9pm the tables were full of football shirts just finishing up and heading out. But we were seated at a large round table (probably intended for four) at the back by the kitchen. C’est la vie.

The décor is pretty standard, heavy white table cloths, paintings with gilt and elephants, bar to the front and trundling trollies bearing plates of food. The waiters are attentive but there’s a tendency to try and up sell which can be exhausting if you don’t fancy a bottle of wine or numerous sides. We went for a beer and a glass of white (pretty sharp) and a couple of poppadoms to start us off. They were light, non-greasy and crisp and the mango chutney in the condiments wheel was better than average with proper chunks of mango and depth of flavour.

C settled on that old classic, chicken tikka massala, which was well executed, the chicken marinated and charred in the tandoor before being cooked up with the sauce. I went for a dish I’d never seen before – beef xacutti, a Goan curry with coconut. I love beef and, of course, it’s unusual to see it on the menu in an Indian restaurant. The curry was great, rich and just spicy enough, the coconut mellowing it. We went for pilau rice and a side of aubergines cooked simply with chilli, both excellent.

The bill came to just over £30 and arrived with wedges of orange and After Eights, a nice touch. Slightly pushy service aside, this really is a great restaurant and serves the best curry on the Holloway Road.