Teknaf
Verdict : 4/10 (Not bad, but not enough to make me return)
On 16 January 2008 (Wednesday) D and I went to Teknaf Cuisine, our local Bangladeshi restaurant in Bearwood, Birmingham. Teknaf is name of a town in Bangladesh.
We did not have plan to eat out that day, but one of our sewage was blocked and we could not cook at home.
As we did not want to move too much, we looked for somewhere near our house. First we thought of Kashmir Cottage, but we decided to explore a new place. The place we wanted to go was Haweli on Hagley Rd., but when we visite, we were told it was full. Full at 7 o'clock on Wednesday in January!? Now, Kashmir Cottage is at the other end of Bearwood, so we decided to go to Teknaf Cuisine, where we have not been for three years or so. As you would guess from this interval, we were not much impressed then.
At Teknaf, there were only two couples and we could easily get a table. To be fair, not that it is always empty, and it was busier when I passed in front a day after.
This is the interior. I could not get a good picture, as there were people eating on the right side. Behind me, there is a dining area as large as the one in front of me.
As we were not to order starter, we had two popadoms £0.60 for one).
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What surprised me was the colour of the mind yogurt dip. It was so artificially green!!! This made me feel anxious about the quality of the food here, even though it tasted all right. The other dip was chili yogurty sauce, and there was also fresh (was fresh) onion salad. Popadoms were average OK.
The price of curries is less than £6, but if you choose king prawns, it rockets up to almost £12. Also Chef's special main courses are between £11-£12, which is on the par with the up-market Indian restaurants in Birmingham city centre. I was wandering who would order these dishes down here in Bearwood. It is a kind of price we pay at the best Indian restaurant in city centre.
We ordered the combination plate of Chicken Kashmir and Lamb Dansak (£:7.95). Chicken Kashmir (this side) is mild, but not sweet like Korma, curry with morcels of chicken brest and lychees (!?). Dansak is middle hot curry with lamb bits, pinapple pieces, and lentiles (not that I saw them, but supposed to be in Dansak). The both tasted ok, but nothing particular. I did not think meat was of very good quality.
The cheese naan (upper right corner in the photo) had a lot of cheese on top (£:2.50). To me it would be a torture to eat this with curry, but, let's not bother; it is D's taste.
To try something else than curry, we ordered also prawn Biryani (£:7.95). Chicken or lamb version is for the same price.
It was pretty well presented, and generous in quantity. There were very small sultanas and sliced almond in rice. The prawns, however, were over cooked: they were dehydrated and tough. As a Japanese person in 'Indian' restaurant, I often think they don't know how to cook seafood, and also this time my suspicion was confirmed (but proved wrong when I visited Lasan).
This small pot is the vegetable curry that accompanied Biriyani. The usual accompaniment to Biryani is soupy vegetable curry, but this one was sold with large potato pieces. This was rather tasty.
Summing up, we did not have anything inacceptable, but at the same time, we did not receive anything of surprise, and it became just of one mediocre eating out experience. The bill came to £21.10 including one small bottle of coke (£1.50). With about 10% service, it should become £23. I would have expected better quality for this price. My local curry house of choice still is Kashmir Cottage. Next tiem we will try Haweli.
Teknaf Cuisine
622 Bearwood Road, Bearwood, Birmingham, B88 4BW
Tel. 0121-420 4499
Fax. 0121-420 3987
