The Gate Of India, at the Old Grey Mare, Clifton Green, York

IF proof were needed that Evening Press staff do read their own letters' page, this week's review comes courtesy of a reader tip-off.

Last month a lady visiting York from Devon wrote us an ecstatic letter extolling the virtues of our fair city, and drawing our attention in particular to an Indian restaurant in Clifton - the Gate of India on the green.

Hang about, we thought, we'd better give it a try.

The Gate of India is a new set up by the owners of Jaipur Spice, and has been given a home in one of the rooms of the spacious Old Grey Mare pub on Clifton Green.

Martin and I turned up exceptionally hungry after a day at the seaside at Filey, and made our way through the pub to the restaurant beyond.

It was a slightly surreal transition to move from a traditional wooden-beamed watering hole to the red-carpeted restaurant beyond, and our unsettled feeling continued as we sat down.

In one ear piped classic Indian music, while Eighties chart hits wafted from the pub.

The decor inside the restaurant was fairly nondescript. Red curtains have been draped over the windows, but there is little in the way of ambient lighting that would have created some much-needed atmosphere.

Some kind of screen or curtain arrangement would also have helped to separate the place from its pub neighbour and provide a more relaxing setting - but fair enough, we thought, the restaurant was newly open.

The food, however, more than made up for the lack of atmosphere. It was excellent.

Many Indian restaurants offer a wide range of dishes, but here the menu seemed unusually extensive with starters including the traditional poppadoms and onion bhaji (£2.50), along with tandoori mixed platter (£3.95) and Goan galda bhaza (£3.95) - a king prawn dish.

There's a Gate Of India banquet for two or four people, which seemed reasonable value at between £13.95 and £14.95 per person for two courses, side dishes, rice and naan bread.

Traditional classics such as tandoori, balti, korma, pathia, dopiaza, madras and bhuna curries were there, along with a decent choice of chef's specials, and, I was pleased to see, no puddings.

We kicked off with a couple of poppadoms (40p each). The accompanying pickle tray (£2) bore few surprises but the mint yoghurt was pleasingly fresh, despite its alarmingly bright yellow colour. Keen to try as many things as possible, we picked out a couple of starters: a roti chingri (£2.95) - sea prawns stir fried with onions and tomatoes, and aloo palak pakora (£2.50), a kind of sweet potato cake made with fenugreek and spinach. The prawns were spicy and delicious and came with some lovely home-made Indian pancake-like bread, while the potato cakes had a nice herby kick to them.

For our main courses, Martin went for the chicken hyderabadi (£7.95) - chicken marinated with cashew nut paste. This he pronounced delicious and deeply satisfying - big, tender pieces of chicken in a thick, nutty, buttery sauce. A forkful later, and I had to agree.

I chose the shahi shaslic bhuna chicken (£7.95) - described as tender pieces of chicken "immersed overnight" in mustard seeds, peppers and tomatoes. It was a fair description. The chicken was just as tender as Martin's had been, and was accompanied by juicy big chunks of pepper - still pleasantly crunchy but full of flavour - and large slices of smoky-flavoured onion, and a good, spicy sauce.

We each had a plain shada rice (£1.95), a garlic naan (£2.30) and a Kingfisher beer apiece to wash it all down with. The whole lot came to £35.15, not the cheapest meal ever, but certainly not the most expensive.

As we sat happy and replete at the end of our meal, the manager brought us a glass of Bailey's each on the house. Ah, that sickly, but oddly compelling taste. It made us feel like teenagers again.

Lucy visited The Gate of India on Sunday, July 3, 2005

The Gate Of India, at the Old Grey Mare, Clifton Green, York. Tel: 01904 631945

Food: Very tasty

Service: fine

Value: reasonable

Ambience: lacking

Disabled access: No

Updated: 16:32 Friday, July 15, 2005