Bengal Café
Oct. 18th, 2004 09:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randomnessI developed a chicken craving after ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bookteacher mentioned it as we were all riding home on the Red Line, and I got bedfull_o_books to drive because I was just too tired. We were on our way to KFC when I spotted a new place on Mass. Av. Obviously I'll pass up fast food in favor of trying a new restaurant.
Bengal Café
2263 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
tel: +1.617.492.1944
fax: +1.617.492.1940
M-Th: 1100-2100
F-Su: 1100-2200
T: Davis
Free delivery in North Cambridge.
All halal.
Bengal Café serves homestyle Bangladeshi food. It's very much a family restaurant: when we visited, Dad was helping his son with his math homework and trying to keep his year-and-a-half old daughter from visiting the customers too much, while Mom cooked.
The menu features many items which we'd never heard of before. While it does list a variety of kebabs and curries, but we thought we'd try things we couldn't get elsewhere. We had to ask what many of them were as we were ordering, and there are still a lot of things which are still quite obscure. Ask.
We got the "Fuchka (pani puri) 5 pcs." ($2.25) for an appetizer. It turned out to be 6 bite-sized deep-fried flour puffs filled with lentils with a tangy-hot sauce on the side. Nicely crunchy.
As our entrees, we ordered the first two items on the specials menu: "Boot gosht (shana daal)" (7.99) and "Hilsa Bhaja" (7.99). The boot gosht is a beef--eaten in Bangladesh, in contrast to India--stew, with (as the "daal" indicates) lentils. Lightly spicy and comforting, with large chunks of beef. Hilsa is a fish commonly eaten in Bangladesh, and the Hilsa bhaja was two deep-fried ovals of fish. A cauliflower, pea, carrot side dish, swimming in a savory brown sauce accompanied it. The hilsa has many small bones, but is salty and flavorful. Rice came with both. We also ordered two small puris (0.50 each), which they didn't charge us for.
Portions are small, but we were nonetheless full by the end of the meal.
This is the only Bangladeshi restaurant I know of in the area, and a great change from the usual Indian fare. According to the waiter, they've only been open a few months. I hope they survive!
bookteacher mentioned it as we were all riding home on the Red Line, and I got bedfull_o_books to drive because I was just too tired. We were on our way to KFC when I spotted a new place on Mass. Av. Obviously I'll pass up fast food in favor of trying a new restaurant.Bengal Café
2263 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
tel: +1.617.492.1944
fax: +1.617.492.1940
M-Th: 1100-2100
F-Su: 1100-2200
T: Davis
Free delivery in North Cambridge.
All halal.
Bengal Café serves homestyle Bangladeshi food. It's very much a family restaurant: when we visited, Dad was helping his son with his math homework and trying to keep his year-and-a-half old daughter from visiting the customers too much, while Mom cooked.
The menu features many items which we'd never heard of before. While it does list a variety of kebabs and curries, but we thought we'd try things we couldn't get elsewhere. We had to ask what many of them were as we were ordering, and there are still a lot of things which are still quite obscure. Ask.
We got the "Fuchka (pani puri) 5 pcs." ($2.25) for an appetizer. It turned out to be 6 bite-sized deep-fried flour puffs filled with lentils with a tangy-hot sauce on the side. Nicely crunchy.
As our entrees, we ordered the first two items on the specials menu: "Boot gosht (shana daal)" (7.99) and "Hilsa Bhaja" (7.99). The boot gosht is a beef--eaten in Bangladesh, in contrast to India--stew, with (as the "daal" indicates) lentils. Lightly spicy and comforting, with large chunks of beef. Hilsa is a fish commonly eaten in Bangladesh, and the Hilsa bhaja was two deep-fried ovals of fish. A cauliflower, pea, carrot side dish, swimming in a savory brown sauce accompanied it. The hilsa has many small bones, but is salty and flavorful. Rice came with both. We also ordered two small puris (0.50 each), which they didn't charge us for.
Portions are small, but we were nonetheless full by the end of the meal.
This is the only Bangladeshi restaurant I know of in the area, and a great change from the usual Indian fare. According to the waiter, they've only been open a few months. I hope they survive!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-19 09:48 pm (UTC)we had the fish korma, which was utterly unlike any korma i'd had before, but very good. we also got panipuri and paratha, and the woman running the kitchen was very nice. thanks for mentioning this place!
(i also emailed my bengali coworker with the info, and i hope to maybe go there sometime with her, but i won't know what she thinks for several weeks, because she's currently in bangladesh :)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-19 11:40 pm (UTC)Sure! Glad you posted your experience!
we had the fish korma, which was utterly unlike any korma i'd had before, but very good.
That makes sense; I've had this suspicion that many of the Indian dishes we're familiar with--like korma, jalfrezi, or biryani--may in their countries of origin be quite unlike those we eat here. I know from personal experience it's often true for Chinese food.
One of the reasons for my bias towards mom and pop places is that they're often more genuine, both in food and service.