At the end of 2024, we brought our second Essex Eats Awards to a close, with thousands of votes being cast and a new wave of winners crowned. Among them was Bangladeshi takeaway Kaani Kaana, which won the best takeaway award.
Based on Duke Street, Kaani Kaana, a family-run business, is a fairly new kid on the takeaway block of Essex, having only opened in the spring of 2023. However, waves of positive reviews have come through for the eatery, which is keen on bringing the most authentic Bangladeshi food, along with traditional curry dishes, to people’s tables as possible.
I’m no stranger to a good curry, and I adore spicy food. With Kaani Kaana winning EssexLive ‘s latest award, I decided it was time for a review, to see what the fuss was about. I quickly learned my answer.
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While I’ve tried a lot of curries, authentic cuisines from the likes of Bangladesh and Pakistan are not ones that have come to my attention much before. So for my first try of this eatery, I wanted to eat what they would normally eat at home, opting for a new dish of a lamb Chana Dal Gosht, a dish that is a mixture of meat and lentils.
Usually you’d expect lentils by themselves as a vegetarian dish, and I had not tried them in a dish with meat before. Yet what a pairing they made. The meal arrived in good time, exactly when it said it would, presented in a high quality, branded bag. I had gone for the lamb dish alongside a garlic naan bread, one of my favourites.
The Gosht initially looked like a small portion for the price I paid, but once you begin eating it you realise it’s perfectly sized, as it’s so filling. The lamb was beautifully cooked; rich, tender and it fell apart easily between your knife and fork. The lentils made for a good mix for a thick and rich sauce surrounding the meat.
The more I ate, the more the flavours began to explode in my mouth. It was the perfect blend of spice, aromatic and juicy flavours. Many times when you try a curry or similar dish the spice can either be a little too tame or extreme; this felt like the perfectly pitched party for the tastebuds.
The lamb Chana Dal Gosht and garlic naan from Kaani Kaana
(Image: EssexLive)
By the end of the meal my mouth was so full of flavour I was genuinely lost for words. There was plenty of spice to the flavour but nothing to make it feel uncomfortable or overpowering. It was easy to see why this small box of food was making so many people happy. The garlic naan proved its worth too, mopping up every last morsel of that delicious, thick sauce.
Kaani Kaana has proved its worth as the best takeaway in Essex according to our readers, I now stand firmly beside their vote. I will be returning soon, hungry for more.
This article is part of EssexLive’s series Essex Eats where a member of our team reviews an independent food business in the county. We don’t tell the business we’re coming and we don’t tell them who we are while we’re there. Every meal for EssexEats is paid for by us and not gifted. Check back every Thursday and Saturday for our top pick that week of a great food spot in Essex.
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