New New Bengal, Gosforth

New New Bengal

232 High St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1HH

0191 285 6706

newnewbengal.com

The curiously-named New New Bengal on Gosforth's High Street has an interesting history. A familiar local landmark (there's been a restaurant here since at least the 1970's), the then-named New Bengal leapt to prominence late one night in September 2014 when a passer-by reported that the restaurant was ablaze – like, 'flames raging out of the front of the building' sort of ablaze.

You might have thought that was curtains for the New Bengal but the owners clearly had other ideas and from the ashes of the old sprang a new Indian restaurant, this time with a cool, modern and obviously very new interior and with a name that seemed to capture it all perfectly – yes, it was the New Bengal, but it was new. It was, in fact, the New New Bengal.

We decided we had to try this unusually-named restaurant for ourselves so we duly booked a table for five people and arrived to find a table waiting for us in an alcove which, though cosy, could seat at least six people. The surroundings were plain but impressive, with soft lighting and simple furnishings, decidedly smart, in a minimalist sort of way.

The staff immediately made us comfortable, taking our drinks order and bringing us poppadums and a tray of six pickles whilst we pondered the menu. I ordered a bottle of Collingwood Pale Ale, one of a number of different beers on the menu from the excellent Wylam Brewery. They serve no keg beer at all, preferring to offer a better-quality bottled beer instead (including the alcohol-free Cobra Zero, which is great idea if you're having to drive back from the restaurant).

There were five vegetarian starters on offer, plus two Street Food dishes – bel puri, which is made from puffed rice, onion and coriander, and Bengal Bites which are round hollow puris filled with chickpea chatt. Unfortunately, they'd run out of Bengal Bites so we made do with the bel puri, which was light, simple and tasty. We also sampled the onion bhajis which were everything a good onion bhaji should be - dry and crunchy on the outside, soft, comforting and gently flavoured on the inside. The vegetable samosa was also delicious, hot, soft and spicy with a firm pastry shell, and the aloo channa tikki, which are spicy potato and chickpea cakes, were also very popular. All in all, a very good start.

For the main event, we found a choice of seven vegetarian specialities which were available either as a main course or a side dish, and 10 'traditional' British curries which had a vegetable option – not a huge selection, but there was plenty here to whet the appetite. Some of our party opted to raid the side dish menu, mostly ordering two dishes each with rice, while two of us chose the vegetable patia and vegetable sri lanka from the tradional menu.

Our table was soon filling up with dishes of palak paneer (paneer cooked with fresh spinach, cumin and garlic), sabzi bahar (a combination of vegetables including aubergine and potato with onions and tomato), matter paneer (paneer with peas) and tarka dhal, with larger bowls of vegetable patia and vegetable sri lanka not far behind.

The firm and creamy paneer met with universal approval and the tarka dahl was also very popular (thick, and garlicky) but the clear favourite among the sided dishes was the Sabzi Bahar which was described as succulent, well-flavoured and absolutely delicious. The curries were also very good, the partia being hot, flavoursome and beautifully balanced and the sri lanka similarly spicy but with a delicious sweetness and a subtle coconut flavour.

We chose the mushroom pillau, which was light and dry and got a big thumbs up, and the lemon and chilli pillau which was a real revelation. The sweet sourness of the lemon peel riffed brilliantly with the heat of the chopped green chillis to produce a rice dish that worked perfectly with the patia and with the South Indian flavours of the sri lankan curry, though you could argue that the extra heat engendered by the chilli wasn't strictly necessary with two such well-spiced curries. However, if you enjoy a slightly milder curry but want to add a little more heat, then this would be the perfect accompaniment.

We also ordered a couple of nans which were soft and puffy and were put to good use scooping up mouthfuls of the delicious tarka dahl and generally clearing up any remaining food in the serving dishes.

By the end of the meal, our party judged themselves to be full and perfectly satisfied, and greatly impressed with the food. It was probably just as well that none of us had room for a dessert as the restaurant doesn't actually offer a dessert menu. Similarly, they don't serve tea or coffee, which was also a surprise and brought our meal to a rather sudden and unexpected end. Not a big problem, perhaps, but a minor disappointment.

Overall, we were really impressed with the New New Bengal. The food was genuinely faultless, delicious, well-presented and cooked to perfection. The staff, too, were perfect – really helpful, very efficient and attentive. The menu choice was perhaps a teeny bit limited for vegetarians but what was there we certainly had no complaints about. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal there and I suspect this is one restaurant we'll definitely be returning to.