Bengal Brasserie Review: here’s what I thought of my curry at Leeds’ award-winning Indian restaurant

You wouldn’t expect to find the city’s best-rated Indian restaurant nestled between a launderette, a carpet shop and a tyre merchant on one end of a steep residential road one mile out from the city centre.

But on my visit early on a Monday evening, you can't tell the restaurant is some distance from the traditional hot spots of the Leeds food circuit as the place is buzzing with life.

There are plenty of eateries in the city which experiment with the curry-house format which, to many Brits, is as familiar as the warm embrace of an old winter coat.

But Bengal Brasserie fought off competition from all over the country to claim Curry Life’s Best Restaurant of the Year award in 2021 by sticking to the simple formula of providing good food in a welcoming environment.

So much of my experience at the 60-seater restaurant feels like a home from home - I recognise the LED strip and twinkly little lights jollying up the bar, and there’s something in the marble flooring and tiles in the bathroom which hark back to old memories of long Cobra sessions of years gone by.

At Bengal, students, couples, old friends and families all rub shoulders in the name of tasty food in a simple, cosy space, where you’re always within smelling distance of your neighbour's dishes. At times, the competition of voices and Asian remixes of club classics is a burden on the ears, but the joy of communal eating is central to the Bengal experience.

True to curry-house tradition, Bengal’s menu is overwhelming in breadth, but offers helpful descriptions of dishes to cater to the old-hands and uninducted alike. The food is hot, the ingredients fresh, the meat tender, and you can taste the kitchen flames in the sweet peshwari naan and fragrant mushroom pilau rice.

Two curries, a side, a bread, a naan, three pints comes in shy of £50 - not including the complimentary tipple which rounded off a special evening of personal service from the enthusiastic Bengal team.

Refusing to reinvent the wheel, Bengal Brasserie serves quality meals in a friendly setting.

Address: 65 Haddon Rd, Burley, Leeds, LS4 2JE.

Telephone: 0113 278 9656

Opening hours: Mon-Thurs, 5.30pm-11pm; Fri-Sat, 5pm-11pm; Sun, 4pm-10pm.

Website: https://www.bengal-brasserie.com/leeds/

Food: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Service: 8/10