The Bengal Lancer

I have lived around the corner from this restaurant for most of my life and I can safely safe that having sampled the menu over and over and over again and introduced most of my friends to it, the restaurant is brilliant. My favourite is Halbadras Prize which is probably the biggest platter of foods that you will ever encounter, with about 5 or 6 types of chargrilled meats spiced in different ways along with a curry, naan breads and rice. All for £26 and probably enough for 3 or 4 people.
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Natasha
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 24, 2008

I lived in Kentish Town for several years and went to the Bengal Lancers precisely once. I will not be returning.

I went for dinner with two friends and ordered a selection of things from the menu.

There was not a huge choice of vegetarian main courses and we had a vegetarian with us. She cannot tolerate very hot food and chose her dish carefully because of this. When it arrived, she took one bite and said it was too spicy for her. I love hot things so I took a bite from her plate - it made my eyes water!

We then called the waiter over and asked for a little yogurt for my friend to eat with her main course. This was duly brought to us - about a tablespoonful. My friend ate two more mouthfuls and had to go home because the spiciness had made her ill.

We continued with our dinner - which was good - and then asked for the bill.

We were absolutely amazed to find that we had been charged £4 for the spoonful of yogurt!!! I complained about it to the waiter, he said 'oh we always charge that for extras'!!!!

Never went back there again!
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Tisiphone
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, March 06, 2008

I ate at this restaurant last weekend, having known it from years previously when I used to live in the area. I'm afraid I was very disappointed. It seemed like it has made too much of an effort to be "new Kentish Town" slick and cool to the detriment of the food. We were a group of 8 and the mixed starters were indeed mixed. The shami kebabs and chicken pieces were ok but the onion bajis had the consistency and taste of small frisbees but, I would doubt, the aerodynamic qualities. The sauce in my prawn dish reminded me of that completely unsubtle curry powder flavour that our parents may have regarded as standard in the '70s. There were odd bits of what I assumed was fruit floating in it alongside the prawns whose flavour was masked by the above apparently tinned curry taste.

Someone else's tuna was equally unappetising. The menu, while appearing at first sight to be quite original started to look like it had just been jazzed up to appear trendy. Sun dried tomato naan?
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John
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

I am an avid restaurant goer and love to try food from all over the world. When I came to London i was disappointed that th eindian restaurants were actually paying lip service and may of them provided generic dishes with generic sauces. As I am half indian and lived in Pakistan for a few years I was obviously expecitng a higher standard of authenticity and taste. The Bengal Lancer, offers extremely interesting, and a wide variety of dishes from all over. They have selected their menu to includegoan, punjabi, bengali, pakistani dishes. They offer beef, pork, seafood, lanb chicken etc which is rare in one restuarant. The starters are superb - try the guru wrap. If you want spicy (I love chillies) you will be blown away by the kahlapuri chickenn ( I advise avoidance ir tempering down). The biryani is the best outside of home cooking and the portions are VERY generous. Fro those who like tasty, but not mouth melting try the karahi lamb or chicken.
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Lorna Rodericks
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 06, 2006

The Bengal Lancer is one of the best Indians i've been to. The restaurant itself is modern and comfortable. The staff are friendly and actually smile. The food is superb with good size portions. This is a class restaurant rather than a post-pub late night curry.
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Ben
Saturday, September 24, 2005

The Bengal Lancer looks nice and has a good atmosphere. The red wine (an Australian Shiraz) we ordered was also good and not over-priced.

However, having read the reviews on this website, we were expecting above average food. We found the food rather mediocre and not particularly spicy. 3 of the 5 dishes had way too much oil in them and the overwhelming taste was garlic rather than curry. The chicken dish we ordered contained pieces of cartilage.

On balance, we prefer other Indian restaurants in the area like the Bombay Bicycle Club in Hampstead or the Bombay Blueprint. We will not be going there again.
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Kaare&Malene
Saturday, August 20, 2005