Bengal Spice — Restaurant in Kirklees

Bengal Spice: Where flavour goes to die and your wallet goes to weep

Normally I refrain from writing reviews, but this particular establishment demanded it — partly out of civic duty, partly out of disbelief.

Drawn in by the vaguely promising aesthetics and a chorus of glowing Google reviews, my amigos and I ventured forth, lured by the prospect of a succulent Indian meal.

The start was deceptively reassuring: a warm greeting, drinks order swiftly taken, and a menu blessedly uncluttered — usually a sign that the chef has a keen focus on specialising on a few blends well. At least, that was the hope. As any seasoned curry professional knows, the golden rule is simple: test the basics. If the staples deliver, you can trust the kitchen with more adventurous dishes on a return visit. Spoiler alert: there will be no return visit.

Our order, the six titans of a British Indian restaurant: • Poppadoms • Dips • Tandoori lamb chops • Chicken tikka masala • Pilau rice • Garlic naan

Poppadoms – serviceable, no more.

Dips – baffling. The “spicy” sauce had mislaid its spice, the mango chutney tasted like water faintly acquainted with fruit, and the mint yoghurt had clearly never met a mint leaf in its life. The chopped raw onion remained untouched (we weren’t that desperate), while the lime pickle resembled something a cat might regret bringing up on the carpet.

Lamb chops – one just about passed as edible. The others were gristle, fat, and blood, with about as much meat as a butcher’s pencil. A tragic waste of a lamb.

Chicken tikka masala – bland to the point of offensive. A curry so devoid of flavour it could have been a placebo. The meat itself had the texture, aroma, and aftertaste of something Pirelli would be proud of.

Pilau rice – forgettable.

Garlic naan – a perfect circle that had clearly seen more of a microwave than a tandoor. Straight out of a packet, straight from ping to plate in about six seconds.

With flavour entirely absent, our meal was abandoned after a few joyless bites. When the waiter clocked our untouched plates and asked if everything was all right, my honest reply of “No, it’s very bland, it tastes of nothing” was met not with concern, apology, or even curiosity, but a casual: “Ah right… shall I take it away?” A response that suggests this isn’t an unusual occurrence.

Then came the bill: £40 per head, this was with no alcohol. Not only did Bengal Spice serve us absolute tripe in every sense but also relieved us of our wallets with unblinking confidence. £15 for a bland, flavourless tikka masala? A disgrace. Bengal Spice? More like Bengal £££Price.

In short: this place should be avoided with the same urgency one would avoid food poisoning. Do yourself a favour — drive past, don’t look back, and let your stomach and your wallet thank you later.

All in all –...

First time I have been after several recommendations. A few things I want to share. The women serving behind the bar to guests both in the waiting area and the restaurant are treated in a demeaning manner by male staff, whilst I understand this may be cultural it's disgusting to see in a modern civilised society. I don't want to witness this anywhere. The staff are attentive and very friendly all but one who seemed offended by comments about how disgusting Becks blue is as an non alcoholic choice of beer ( particularly when cobra 0.0 is available and far superior). I ended up having coke which I am assuming is a cheap brand as it was flat and a strange taste. The table cloths have obviously gone as seen in previous photos on here, I'm guessing this is a cost savings measure but it leaves ugly cheap brown tables that also effects the sound in the place. It's noisy loud and terrible music! It's very cramped tables pushed up close together. The huge television in the waiting area is tacky and unnecessary. The men's toilets are quite simply awful. This restaurant has a lot of covers and there is one toilet and one urinal , a cheap (one) bottle of hand wash. The food is just okay. I had a stuffed veg paratha and I think the veg was the frozen bags of cheap veg you get in supermarkets I ate a 1/4 of it, it wasn't good. I had an aubergine dish it was very bland and the aubergine not quite cooked enough for my taste. No fresh herbs from what I could see on any of the dishes brought to our table of five. I might try again but it's not one of...

On holiday and ordered from here based on 4.7 on Google. I thought it would be at least half decent. OMG, how wrong. Of course it can happen anywhere, however, when I called them, they said sorry and basically it was my fault for picking a mild curry. I said no, it's horrible and watery. It's not cheap and this was our dinner. No offer of a refund, just an offer of a better curry, picked by him. He didn't seem to understand that we wouldn't want another plate of food from him. We never complain and this is why. Defensiveness, instead of politeness and good customer service. Maybe he thought we ate it as he wouldn't give my money back. If this is what the people of this town think is good food, no wonder this place thinks it can do no wrong. Chicken dry and hard, sauce mildly sweet and no taste. Sag paneer cold cottage cheese, no flavour. This sag tasted like no other ever had. And the roti ☹️. If I could have given...