Cafe Bangla sits almost at the end of the rows of Indian restaurants on Brick Lane, its always a sense sensation on the ears, eyes and nose and the walk to Cafe Bangla allows you to take everything in.
The interior is something to behold, the first time we went it wasnt on recommendation of the food but to see a huge Princess Diana mural that it had on the wall! Now Im not particularly a huge Diana fan but the oddness of a Indian restaurant having a tribute mural on their wall was something that had to be confirmed or put to bed once and for all......well the mural did and still does exist! The rest of the walls are also covered with murals but more traditional Indian dream like sequences. The restaurant isnt huge compared to some on Brick Lane but the size adds to the cosyness and friendlyness of the restaurant.
The menu, however, is huge and takes a while to wade through but has all of the Indian classics you could want and then some. After some beer and some conversation with my dinner companions I finally made my choices. For a starter I had King Prawn Puri at £4.85, followed by a classic Lamb Dhansak at £5.15, the former had a good amount of prawns, soft covering and good amount of sauce the latter was delivered sizzling to the table, with just the right amount of spicy heat. With poppadums, rice, a beer and coffee (which we werent charged for) the total including tip was £20 - a real bargain for some great food.
Service was good and they happily let us take as long as we wanted to finish the meal (I hate restaurants which hurry you out of the door!) - we whiled away a good couple of hours there. It definitely remains one of my favourite places on Brick Lane.
If you are venturing to Brick Lane make sure you stop by for a visit - the food is great and you just have to see in real life the Princess Diana mural! - see some urban myths are true!
If you cant quite make it to Brick Lane and want to try your hand at Indian cooking at home - The Easy Indian Cookbook by Manju Malhi published in 2010 is a good place to start...
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The interior is something to behold, the first time we went it wasnt on recommendation of the food but to see a huge Princess Diana mural that it had on the wall! Now Im not particularly a huge Diana fan but the oddness of a Indian restaurant having a tribute mural on their wall was something that had to be confirmed or put to bed once and for all......well the mural did and still does exist! The rest of the walls are also covered with murals but more traditional Indian dream like sequences. The restaurant isnt huge compared to some on Brick Lane but the size adds to the cosyness and friendlyness of the restaurant.
The menu, however, is huge and takes a while to wade through but has all of the Indian classics you could want and then some. After some beer and some conversation with my dinner companions I finally made my choices. For a starter I had King Prawn Puri at £4.85, followed by a classic Lamb Dhansak at £5.15, the former had a good amount of prawns, soft covering and good amount of sauce the latter was delivered sizzling to the table, with just the right amount of spicy heat. With poppadums, rice, a beer and coffee (which we werent charged for) the total including tip was £20 - a real bargain for some great food.
Service was good and they happily let us take as long as we wanted to finish the meal (I hate restaurants which hurry you out of the door!) - we whiled away a good couple of hours there. It definitely remains one of my favourite places on Brick Lane.
If you are venturing to Brick Lane make sure you stop by for a visit - the food is great and you just have to see in real life the Princess Diana mural! - see some urban myths are true!
If you cant quite make it to Brick Lane and want to try your hand at Indian cooking at home - The Easy Indian Cookbook by Manju Malhi published in 2010 is a good place to start...
View Larger Map
