Bengal Tiger

Thus we get pork vindaloo with restrained intensity, braised in curry, juicy and fragrant. Beef panang curry is strips of rich flap steak with the heady breath of kafir lime and galangal. There is an array of mix-and-match skewers called small sticks: chicken tikka with a silky yogurt frosting applied to thigh meat; shrimp with sweet Thai chili sauce; chicken breast meshed with a cream cheese cilantro marinade laced with lime; sirloin flap steak with red curry, palm sugar and soy. Sticks bulk up into full-blown kebabs for dinner.

There are naan bread wraps for lunch and crafty hybrids that wink at colonial baggage. Fish and chips masala is strips of cod in a singed carapace of chickpea-Kingfisher beer batter seasoned with garam masala, making them aromatic and sweet. A loose knot of tropical slaw in a terse lime vinaigrette adds cleansing edge. Garam masala, a blend of ground clove, cinnamon, cardamom and salt, is loaded into shakers on the table. I desperately yearn for a Bengalized saag paneer.

Finish with the deliciously exotic masala chai tiramisu with cardamom, the mango rice pudding, chocolate spring rolls or maybe a rum-soaked mango lassi. Bengal Coast is a collection of mergings that feels more elegant than forced. The food is lithe and distinct. With perseverance, those Chang dreams will morph into ka-ching reality.