Rose of Bengal

Situated on Radford road just down from the Gala Bingo is this fairly unassuming take away which has been serving the community for about 25 years. Its owner, not a resident of Coventry, but a Brummie makes the daily journey down the A45 to ensure the residents of Coventry are well served for quality takeaway food.

Now I'm a bit biased as I've been going to this place for about 12 years and it is my regular choice when we have a takeaway curry but the food usually hits the mark.

The style is typical Indian takeaway but with a Bangladesh slant, the food is fresh and always tasty and freshly prepared.

There's not a whole lot to say really about the menu which is probably about as standard as an Indian take away menu gets, all the usuals are there and anything that's not there is probably made up by your local restaurant, or known as something else.

The food is freshly prepared to order, and can take about 20 minutes or so to be made for you if you just walk in and order. The welcome is always friendly and polite and now freshly redecorated the interior is pleasant and boast a large screen TV to help the wait pass.

Parking can be a bit of an issue at weekends but you should find something within 50 yards of the door but in the week you should be able to park right outside.

As I said this is my 'local' and as such I am a regular, but that's the thing, week in week out you see the same faces on a Saturday evening (my usually take away night) and I've been going for a long time, which to my mind only means one thing, people fins this place and stick with it because its safe and you always know what to expect. I've seen lots of other take aways open in Coundon and Kersley since I've been coming here, I've tried them all and somehow I gravitate back 'home' to this place. It's a safe choice, not spectacular, but a known quantity, consistent every time.

On this particular occasion it was a Chicken Tikka Biriyani, it's my usual, with a Keema Naan, always a good bet (the Naans can be excellent, but also I've had a few that needed 5 minutes in the oven at home when it was particularly busy). The owners are incredibly flexible in their wish to satisfy the customers, I've heard all manner of weird and wonderful requests made of them over the years, none of which have been greeted with anything but the confirmation that it's 'no problem'. One of the most interesting was when someone asked for their curry to be cooked 'authentic style' with less ghee, this was 'no problem' and the customer was back in there at the same time as me the following Saturday so I am guessing they were pleased with their 'authentic' curry.

In summary the Rose of Bengal is a really good takeaway which prides itself on freshly prepared, generous portions and tasty food. The pricing is also good with prices typically 25% less than the takeout prices of places like The Mint, Rupali or Mumbai Blue. The only two criticisms I would have is that the menu could do with some updating to bring in a 'freshness' to the place, or to provide something a bit different, I don't think I've seen anything new go on the menu in all the time I've been going there, I think they were one of the first selling the famous 'balti' in Coventry (the owner lives in Birmingham so I think he imported it quite quickly) and I'd put good money on that being the last real change on the menu. Secondly some of the dishes do come with an obligatory film of grease on the top, which is easily soaked off with kitchen towel, but I really don't think there is a need for that much oil/fat/ghee in some of these dishes.

They have recently undertaken a much needed refurbishment of the front of house which has made all the difference to the appearance of the place. I've found nothing within Coundon/Radford or Kersley yet to lure me away form this place on a regular basis.

So the scores are as follows:

Service 4/5
Speed 3/5
Food 4/5
Price/Value 4.5/5
Front of house appearance 4/5 (this would have been 2 a few months ago)
Accessibility 4/5

Overall: 23.5/30

So if you want to check them out you can find them at:

260 Radford Road
Coventry
CV6 3BU

Tel: 024 7659 7307


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