Star rating: * *

My friend Kirsty and I live less than 100m away from each other, but we were long overdue for a catch-up, so we decided to fill each other in on all of our gossip over a curry and a few drinks at the Bengal Spices Indian restaurant in Llanymynech, just a stone’s throw away from our homes.

I have noticed that in most Indian restaurants the waiters are usually impeccably polite, and Bengal Spices was no exception; we were greeted and shown to our table by a well-dressed waiter who took our coats and brought us our first drinks.

The restaurant was also pleasantly decorated, and the traditional music and the scents of herbs and spices put me in the mood for a good meal.

We were offered poppadoms, which we gladly accepted and nibbled at while we perused the menu. We had been told Tuesday night at the restaurant is buffet night, although I had called ahead and checked we could order from the normal menu.

For a starter, I chose meat samosas, and Kirsty chose onion bahjees, and although both came attractively presented with salad, neither of us were overly impressed; the meat in my samosas wasn’t as tasty and spicy as I anticipated it would be, and Kirsty complained her onion bahjees were ‘not very oniony’.

We did a fork for a fork swap deal, and I agreed her starter was a bit crispy and flat, and not thick, soft and tasty as onion bahjees should be.

While we ate our starter, we were surprised to realise we were the restaurant’s only customers, although the takeaway section was thriving. It seemed a shame that the takeaway section and restaurant were not more separate, however.

We could hear the door opening and closing, and if we’d have sat further down the restaurant I expect we might have felt the cold air too.

For my main meal, I decided to be brave and have a chicken chilli dish with chicken pilau rice and a garlic naan, and Kirsty went for her usual favourite, chicken korma with plain rice and a plain naan.

Neither of us could fault our main meals, although as I suspected the chilli was slightly hot for me! There was plenty of succulent chicken in my chilli dish, and also fairly large pieces of chicken in the rice, and Kirsty’s korma was sweet and creamy.

We also shared a few chips, which I dived into every now and then when the chilli got too hot and I wanted something to make my mouth stop burning!

When we decided we could eat no more, the waiter came and took our plates away, and for a time we were content to sit and wish fervently we had not eaten as much as we did, as one always does after an Indian meal.

However, before long my sweet tooth started demanding attention, again as it always does after an Indian meal, so we decided to wait to be offered the sweet menu.

And we waited.

Eventually, we gestured to get the waiter’s attention, and asked for the sweet menu, which, when it arrived was a bit of a disappointment – there were 15 choices in total, but at least 12 of them were ice cream or sorbet variations, and nothing really took my fancy.

My triple chocolate ice cream pudding was ice cream inside a chocolate shell, and it satisfied my sweet tooth but was otherwise not spectacular, and Kirsty complained there were icicles on her strawberry and vanilla sundae dessert.

However, I do realise Indian restaurants are not renowned for the desserts, and probably the majority of people who want Indian cuisine don’t bother with a pudding.

We were again left waiting a little too long for the bill, even though we were still the restaurant’s only customers.

But when we finally called the waiter over, we were offered a complementary drink, which was a nice surprise, and a nice way to end the night.

While we waited for Kirsty’s boyfriend to pick us up, as we felt too full to waddle the quarter-of-a-mile home, a comfy looking sofa in the bar area beckoned to us; but again, as the bar adjoining the restaurant area is also the takeaway pick-up point, we decided we would feel too much on display, so we stayed at our table until we were ready to go.

Overall, the main dishes were excellent, the restaurant is pleasant and the waiters were incredibly well mannered, but next time I fancy an Indian I will probably go for a takeaway.

By Abigail Bates

MENU SAMPLE

Starters: Tandoori Chicken £2.95, Mixed Kebab £4.50

Main courses: Chingri Delight – marinated king prawns coked with almonds, fresh cream, pineapple and malibu 9.95, Jaipur Chicken – A saucy dish with fried mushrooms and onions – £7.50

Sides: Special Pilau Rice 2.25, Peshwari Nan £1.95

ATMOSPHERE: Pleasant but empty

Service: Polite, but we were left waiting too long.

Disabled facilities: Restaurant is spacious, but toilets difficult to access.

Contact: Bengal Spices, Ashfield House, Llanymynech, near Oswestry (01691) 830170