Bengal, Akihabara

Bengal is a place I’ve seen many, many times but never tried. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m happy to say “I wasn’t missing anything, and neither are you!” As with some other places I’ve been with recently, I’m prepared to think I’m missing the point – they’ve been doing this since roughly 1970, so someone likes it.

Should you, like me, tend to visit the heart of Akihabara from time to time (by this I mean the area west of Chuo dori with the small streets, specialist computer shops and maid cafes), you will have noticed Bengal’s palatial aspect and impressive facade. Within is a veritable palace devoted to the appreciation of a humble yet refined dish, the exotic curry rice. While the origins of the dish are steeped in mysteriousness, much like a good chai, scholars have long since agreed on the components common to the best curry rice. They are, vastly, curry and rice.

Lo, what curry doth entreat my visage with its dulcet melifluocity? Bengal’s product steepes in the fiery steppes of Central Asia, watered with the tears of great Chomolungma herself, cratered with exotic spices such as salt and pepper. It’s a tasty treat for the whole family! 

Actually, I thought it was thin, more hot than spicy, and the single chunk of meat comprised at least half its volume in a strip of fat blessedly ignorant of meat. The single potato was a potato, and not even a married one at that.

Rice. I thought this post was veering into inappropriate creativity, but just looking at this has sapped my creativity like white on rice.

Do the hokey pokey and shake it all about, and you get an unsatisfying plate of brown rice with a hunk of fat and a potato on top. Yes, they do expect you to pay for this.

 
Well, maybe it’s just not my style of curry?
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2 Replies to “Bengal, Akihabara”

  1. I tried this place after watching it on some gourmet TV show…the curry was terrible. The chai tea was terrible too. I really don't understand why.

    seat

  2. This place is quite dismal. Can't believe it's still open.

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