Dining: Essence of Greed Casts a Bad Spell
By PAUL COLE
ESSENCE of Bengal offers a relaxed atmosphere to celebrate with you, whatever the occasion.
That’s what the menu promised. Word for word.
And, boy, did we have something to celebrate.
Harry Potter had done it again!
The evil Lord Voldemort had disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the world was safe once more.
With a little help from the Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts was hunky-dory.
And the Essence of Bengal, which rose from the ashes of a local bakers, cast its spell.
On our way back home from the cinema, it promised all manner of culinary wizardry.
Redditch has few upmarket eateries, and this recently opened outpost at Headless Cross seeks to remedy that.
Get past the unprepossessing exterior, and there’s a surprise waiting inside.
With an impressive logo, contemporary claret and beige decor and smart waiters, it looks impressive.
The tables are crisply laid, leatherette high-backed chairs stylish, and lighting subdued.
Only the eastern music is loud – at times too loud, in fact, for easy conversation.
The Essence owners specialise in Bangladeshi and fusion cuisine a cut above most menus in the area.
Prices are upmarket, too, weighing in roughly a third more than rival restaurants.
But you get what you pay for. At least, that’s the theory.
We’d already nibbled up market snacks at the gala opening of the Potter picture at Birmingham’s breathtaking IMAX cinema.
So we approached the menu with the ‘less is more’ philosophy.
After ordering a range of Suruwat starters and appetisers from the exhaustive menu, we came to the main course choice.
Three dishes between the four of us seemed the best bet.
"I’m sorry sir, but you can’t do that," said the waiter. "Each person must have a main course. It is required."
We perused the menu again. This wasn’t a fixed price buffet, and there was nothing to indicate any such condition.
"We’ve eaten in many good restaurants," I said. "There has never been a problem before."
The waiter would not be moved.
"This is Essence of Bengal," he said. "You must each have a main course. It is not my decision, you understand. It is the rule."
What it actually is, is greed. Pure and simple.
After a few moments’ reflection, we compromised. An extra side dish would do the trick, and would be served as a main.
Even Harry Potter, we mused, would have difficulty enchanting the staff. But what of the food? Popadoms and a pickle tray for four (pounds 4) proved straightforward, although two of the four ‘homestyle’ pickles were hotter than a phoenix rising from the flames.
Of the appetisers, Tandoori Chicken Wing (pounds 2.50) offered three wings – strange chickens, these – in a sweet, tangy paste and stuffed with ground herbs before being cooked in the clay oven.
The Tandoori Mixed Kebab (pounds 3.35) was the traditional mixture of chicken tikka, lamb tikka and sheek kebab. Both were tasty without offering anything out of the ordinary.
Served on chic angular dishes with a huge heap of salad, most of which went untouched (less is more in presentation, too) these were veritable meals in their own right.
Aiming to test the mains across the subcontinent spectrum, we ranged from a simple Chicken Tikka Massala (pounds 6.85), which was elegantly flavoured despite its angrily outrageous glow, to a Chicken Biryani (pounds 7.25).
The latter, twice the size of similar dishes in other local eateries, was far too large a portion for one person. And they don’t allow you to share, remember.
Almost a saving grace was the star of the show, Shahi Amm Korma (pounds 7.85) – lamb tikka bathed in a rich creamy sauce laced with almonds, coconuts and slices of sweet mango.
The sauce’s gorgeous flesh tones and swirl of cream suggested subtlety and the flavour matched the contrast between the savoury tikka and sweet fruit a wonder.
A side dish of Dengi Anarosh (pounds 2.45 on the menu) – house rules, you will recall – pulled the same magic trick, with sweet pineapples cooked with slippery mushrooms in a spicy sauce.
Two portions of Pilau Rice (pounds 1.85 each) and a Plain Nan (pounds 1.45) completed the meal.
It was only after we had left that we realised we had been charged extra for the side dish, presumably to make up for our wilful disregard of Mammon.
Essence of Bengal could be an excellent evening essential – if only the management gave as much consideration to the paying customer as they do to the food they serve.
As it stands, it’s Harry Potter and the Bengal Chancers.
The bill, including a Cobra beer and three Cokes, came to pounds 52.70.
Essence Of Bengal, 1b Birchfield Road, Headless Cross, Redditch, Worcestershire (01527 404043).
(c) 2007 Sunday Mercury; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.