Bengal Tiger (Restaurant)

Top 10 things you need to know about Bengal Tiger restaurant:

1) If, like me, you lack financial acumen and possess a tendency to be seduced by Soho, you may not have eaten in The City recently. I feared the Bengal Tiger would be overrun with Wolf of Wall Street wannabes getting tanked up on Cobra. And yet.
 
2) This north Indian restaurant sits in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral. There’s tiger skin artwork, neon lighting and a pumping soundtrack; this, the natural habitat for City folk in need of a traditional Friday night ruby. Yes, there were poppadoms; yes, there were hot towels; but the food was flavoursome and made with fresh ingredients - no uniform browns or wilting salads here.
 
3) It’s the law for any establishment within 2 miles of the Gherkin to serve bottles of wildly expensive champagne to celebrate bonus day (it’s an old law they haven't taken off the books yet, maybe) and the Bengal Tiger is no exception; the bar’s stock is huge and includes Louis Roederer (but you can order a pint or a good bottle of house red instead).
 
4) The menu has a nice balance of curry house coward orders like passanda and regional specials. We opted for a whole pomfret served shallow fried and on the bone with a mustardy sauce and garnished with raw spring onions.
 
5) Aziz, the manager is happy to recommend something from the menu and will guide you towards something a bit unusual.
 
6) Like the tarka daal, here more than just a standard side dish, made with five varieties of lentils and tempered with dry red chilli to make a great texture and flavour.
 
7) Anything cooked in a tandoor is delicious, that’s a scientific fact. We tried tandoori paneer, chicken, and a garlic naan - everything burnished and fragrant.
 
8) With its big function room downstairs and space a plenty, this restaurant would be brilliant for a leaving lunch or team dinner in The City.
 
9) Indian food is the gift that keeps giving for anyone organising a big party where vegetarians, vegans or shunners of gluten might be present. Don’t worry, there’s something for everyone.

10) The Bengal Tiger isn't staggering or experimental, but even my Indian food-snob companion cleaned his plate and, in the end, there wasn’t a slicked backed hairstyle or pair of braces in sight.  

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