The Cottage

Rocking up at about 9pm last night, me a couple of friends were feeling a bit spontaneous so decided to visit the Cottage. It’s not like me at all to go to somewhere I have not been recommended or heard about. But it was one of those rare times everything went so well.
When you visit The Cottage your first impression would be «What sort of place is this? It’s tiny and has no table cloths!» But the three of us had a really good feeling that the food would be spectacular and was!
The restaurant it’s self is very intimate and resembled being in a small cottage some place. One where you are allowed to bring your own drink.
When we sat down, the only waiter working that night was brutally honest and told us that a few of the other waiters were ill and apologised if service was slow. But we really did not notice as this one guy was zipping from table to table to kitchen without any delay!
Now The Cottage is a bit different as it is a Bangladeshi restaurant. It of course has all the Indian favourites but also many authentic Bangladeshi dishes from the region. The Cottage really prides itself on having «exclusive to the Cottage» dishes and they were not lying on closer inspection of the menu.
The three of us were starving so we went with starters and main course. I went for Lamb Pakora (which I had never seen before), Shami Kebab and Garlic Mushroom Pakora. What struck us immediately was how huge the portions were! There were 4 pieces of Pakora on each plate and two huge kebabs!
My Lamb pakora consisted of massive chunks of Lamb fried in batter which was tender and filling.
For the mains, we went for two «Sylheti» dishes. This is named after the region in Bangladesh and in this instance refers to the special masala sauce used in these dishes with an array of herbs and spices.
We ordered a Sylheti Lamb Balti, Sylheti Methi and the vegetarian Pas-​Puron.
When the food arrives, I could not get over how huge the baltis the dishes were served in and how full they were! I was ASTOUNDED! Not that I was complaining of course as they smelt amazing.
The Syletis dishes were amazing and my friend declared it was the best balti he had every had in Stirchley by far. They were so rich in sauce and flavour with the Chicken and Lamb were cooked to perfection. Really nothing like I had never eaten before.
The Pas-​Puron was a quite a dry dish which was filled with an array of vegetables.
We stayed for a good three hours until they chucked us out, but it did give us an opportunity to have a nice chat with the waiter and the Manager names Al who was struck me as a very conscientious man who’s customers happiness in the food they received to be paramount. If you do visit, be sure to try and grab a word with him.
Me and my friends has such a warm and friendly experience at The Cottage, and imagine my delight was I was told they deliver to my area, despite me living miles away!

Really good value
Used their takeaway services only
Prices are really reasonable and you can often get a good discount using Just Eat to order. You can get a curry for around £6 and its nice to get a special or chef recommends for under a tenner.
Would recommend for Friday night in
Fast delivery

Interesting décor, at some point someone obviously thought it a good idea to make it look like a cottage at some point. But the food was lovely. We went just before New Year when they were quite busy but service was quick, and they didn’t seem in a rush to move us out which was refreshing.
Despite all the people, the restaurant seemed pretty quiet so we could hear each other talk and the waiters were really polite. Would definitely go back there again!