CURRY SCENE, DEVIZES

Devizes has four Indian restaurants, fortunately all in the same area of town.

Firstly is the longest established, Deedar (established about 18 years according to manager) at 2 Sidmouth Street. A small (24-seater) restaurant that looks unpretentious from the outside (the inexpertly painted windows and crack across the glass door is not particularly enticing and - perhaps unjustly - makes you think it might be the place for the late night young drunks of the town). However, it's not as basic as it once was, as I understand that it had Formica cafe-style tables, but now has tablecloths and modern chairs. A good feature is the open kitchen at the back, where the you can see the chefs at work.

At the end of Sidmouth Street on the corner of Sheep Street is the Bengal Bite at 1 Sheep Street. This has been there for about 8 years under the same ownership, originally being the Devizes Tandoori before changing to its current and more imaginative name some four years ago. It seats about 24 on the ground floor and a similar amount upstairs, and appears a comfortable traditional style restaurant (i.e. no contemporary wooden flooring or glass and chrome adornments that many Indian restaurants are changing to).

Not far away is the newest of the four, the Jal Khabar at 9/10 Maryport Street. This opened in 2006 and is under the same ownership as the Bengal Bite, and this does have the modern decor of tiled flooring, plain walls, modern furnishings etc. It is the largest of the restaurants, seating about 80.

Continuing along you come to the last of the four, the Taste of Bengal  at 57/58 New Park Street. It was difficult to see at first where the entrance was as they must have recently re-organised their premises. It looks as though the front (where the restaurant name is displayed) had a central door leading to a dining area either side, but now that door is closed and unusually, one of the rooms is now the kitchen (a fact I discovered when inadvertently going through the ajar door during at lunchtime). The entrance is now at the side (next to the public toilets!). It again looks small, the tables being in one long line in a narrow room, and although modern with the tables being without tablecloths, it did remind me of a refectory, and as such not particularly appealing.

In fact, none stood out as being the one to go to. All had a similar and standard menu, so the only thing to base a decision on was appearance. Despite looking the most basic from the outside, my instinct told me the Deedar would provide the better curry,  but my wife told me the Jal Khabar, so that's where we went. Next time it will be my choice!

Malcolm Wilkins - July 2007