Tiger Fish on the menu at Bolton restaurant

11:07am Tuesday 19th August 2008

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IT is mighty ugly, very smelly and weighs in at a more than 120lbs.

But this tiger fish is set to become a star of the show at this year’s Bolton Food and Drink Festival.

The fish — at around five-feet long and two-feet wide — is a speciality of Bangladeshi cuisine.

And it will taste a treat when chefs at the award-winning Royal Balti House, in Lower Market Street, Farnworth, work their magic.

Restaurant owner Nurul Meah has worked hard to establish a reputation for the Royal Balti as an authentic Asian restaurant.

He said: “A lot of our customers are very knowledgeable about curries and traditional dishes and they ask for them on the menu.

“We will be serving the fish exactly as we eat it at home. It’s a meaty fish with hardly any bones and it is a firm favourite on our new menu.”

The fearsome-looking specimen is a long-whiskered catfish known throughout Bangladesh as a tiger fish because of its huge teeth and predatory nature. It will be marinated in traditional spices and served with a curry sauce, onions, peppers and tomatoes.

Mr Meah and chef Abdus Sabdour served the dish as a pre-food festival taster to Bolton Council’s executive member for development, Councillor John Byrne.

The restaurant will create traditional dishes from the huge fish especially for Bolton’s Third Food and Drink Festival which starts on Friday, August 29, and finishes on Sunday, August 31.

Manager of the restaurant, Iqbal Bhunyan said: “This dish is called Baag Bhaja, which means fried fish, and is served with lemon and spice flavoured rice and salad.”

Cllr Byrne said he was delighted that the restaurant was taking part in the festival.

He said: “This fish dish is really good, very tasty. Here in Bolton we are developing our own three-day festival away from the Manchester one and we have lots of great ingredients, good produce and fantastic restaurants like the Royal Balti House.”