One of the best curry houses in Liverpool, this is a tandoori house replete with forgettable Asian lager on tap, chintzy decor and a mint chocolate upon presentation of the bill. Light Of Bengal is one of those classically gaudy effort with pictures of tigers on the wall and something a little bit faded about it all.
But the food in the Light of Bengal is excellent. There’s a wide-ranging menu with some genuine oddities such as Goan Green Chicken, Trout Tandoori and plenty of vegetarian dishes.
Poppadoms come with a fearsome collection of dips that put other curry houses to shame. There’s some yoghurty stuff, some fiery chilli sauce, mango chutney and some of that soft, sweet almondy stuff – plus two raw onion efforts.
Are there any cuisines as appealing to vegetarians as Indian? The Light of Bengal has no less than around 30 veggie dishes on the menu – a reflection of the fact that that meat is not as readily available on the Asian subcontinent as it is in Liverpool suburbia. The veggie vindaloo at Light of Bengal is fearsome, as we can attest.
But meat-eaters are well-catered for. To prove the point there is Akbori Masala, a mild dish with a rich mince-based gravy. And a vast amount of grilled chicken with some crunch on the outside but tender inside. There’s also a boiled egg incongruously balanced on top.
We’ve never had a bad meal in the Light of Bengal – and we’ve never heard of anyone else who has. There are a few specialties, but the Goan Green Chicken is excellent. If that doesn’t take your fancy Light of Bengal has around 200 dishes on the menu to choose from.
Light Of Bengal is always good, it’s always cheap (want it even cheaper? the takeaways are around 25% cheaper) and the service is brisk and polite. If it were on the startlingly overrated Brick Lane people would rave about it. What’s more it’s one of the few curry houses to stay open in South Liverpool until midnight, making it an important stop after a few beers.
In South Liverpool and fancy a curry on Christmas Day at about 11pm? No problem – Light Of Bengal is open late and it’s open every single day of the year. And without any fuss or nonsense it’s one of the best curry houses in Liverpool.
Light of Bengal
286-288 Aigburth RoadLiverpool
L17 9PW
