Bengal Merchant - Menu

We were here on holiday and decided we wanted an Indian. At the Bengal Merchant the staff were friendly the service was good. The meals were really tasty. We would recommend it.

We spent an enjoyable evening here with friends whilst holidaying nearby. The food was very good and we would not hesitate to eat here again or recommend it to others. Our host was extremely friendly and pleasant, and happy to advise us on the menu. A positive experience all round.

We used to come here years ago when living closer and we wanted to visit again. I checked trip advisor and there were some negative reviews -so we were daunting. BRILLIANT FOOD- please don’t let the reviews put you off. All the food was great. The service was good- there were some new staff learning the ropes but they were attentive and couldn’t do enough for us. Beautiful curry we will be back thank you

It’s so disappointing, the food all the tasted the same greasy and bland. It’s the worst Indian food I have ever had and it’s such a shame with such a limited choice in Barnard castle that doesn’t give them the opportunity for them to serve poor quality bland food which is tasteless and poorly executed because there is no competition. If this was in any other town it would be long gone! I would not recommend to eat here!

I am a great believer in writing reviews both good and bad we are visiting Barnard Castle and had a takeaway here on Sunday evening the starters were ok at best but the main course was absolutely disgusting as soon as the lids were off the food the smell of stale water hit you and all the curry’s had the same stale water smell I called back and complained and initially had been offered a 20% discount lol. I bagged the meal back up and went back with it for a refund which I received with an apology. Stale water curry is not my gig.

After reading the reviews I expected the bengal merchant to be decent. Unfortunately that was not the case. Starting with the pint of cobra that was not cold enough the pickle tray starters and main were all poor. My wife didn’t eat the bahji starter and the waiter noticed this and did take it off the bill. The curries were very bland. Once again the waiter noticed nothing was finished asked what the problem was and excepted our criticism and said he would feed it back to the kitchen. Unfortunately I wouldn’t come back but hope it was just an off night.

We have visited this restaurant twice in the last two years each time it’s got worse. I thought we would try one last time as Barney is limited with choice and we were late bookers. Oily starters, cheese slices in the cheese garlic naan tasted like plastic and every dish tasted like a veg curry, tough meat and every main dish was not finished. Even the dog would have turned its nose up at this!! It’s ok though because we will take the naan off the bill and give you an extra chocolate. Won’t visit again, if you know anything about food, Indian or otherwise swerve this place like the wind.

What an absolute hidden gem this place is! My friend and I visited barnard castle for a few sociables on a monday evening and decided to dine at the Bengal Merchant. Our experience from beginning to end was a delight! The guy who greeted and served us was so lovely. He was very attentive, but not overly, polite, pleasant, lovely guy. We ordered from the menu and the food was absolutely delicious!! Could not fault a mouthful of it at all. I have had a caravan for quite a number of years near barnard Castle and am so sad I've not discovered this place until now...as I promised the guy in there, I will be back with hubby in tow!

We had dinner here as we were staying nearby and a lot of places don’t open on Mondays. We looked at the menu and the food was traditional. The restaurant is clean and also traditional. We ate poppadums with chutneys and also had onion bhajis and chicken pakora for starters, both of which were delicious and piping hot. We followed this with curries and my partner asked for some variations to the menu which the restaurant were willing to do and ended up recreating a dish we’d had elsewhere. It was delicious and again piping hot. We also had a jalti which is a cross between a Balti and a Jalfrezi and is fantastic. Again the breads were well cooked and the lager was perfectly chilled. The young...