The Bay of Bengal has been trading in a prime tourist spot for almost as many years as I’ve been alive. It has clearly carved a niche for itself over the years, but I did wonder whether that niche extended beyond offering broad crowd pleasers to tourists tired from a long day of hilly wrong turns. I popped in to check it out.

The place was bereft of punters beyond a knowingly trashed northerner, who had ordered some takeout to ease the morning pain that awaited him. He was soon off with his salving dishes in hand.

With the obligatory lager brought, I caught sight of their budget menu which offered the two dishes, pakora followed by lamb bhuna, I was already thinking of ordering. I added a butter naan as I suspected the plain rice offered would fairly underwhelming, and so it proved.

The pakora were quite poorly presented but decent enough, and the accompanying sauce was pretty fair. The lamb in the main course was nicely prepared but the sauce was underwhelming. The naan was solidly decent. But things felt a bit ordinary and lacking in pizzazz.

So overall, while the Bay of Bengal serves reasonable fare, it’s towards the weaker end of what is generally a very good quality selection of Indian restaurants in the city. Visit in times of necessity, by all means, but there are definitely better options out there.

Scores
Blythe scores the Bay of Bengal
3/5 for food
2.5/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall 12/20

I ate: pakora; lamb bhuna; rice; naan

I drank: snake lager

I wore: pink shirt

Total bill: £24.40