OK, it's not the most romantic or indeed obvious location for a restaurant. "Fancy a night at Nether Poppleton Industrial Estate, darlin'? I'll meet you at seven by the carwash".

But then again. The sister restaurant of the Goodramgate Bengal Brasserie may well be out on the ring road - making the traditional English combination of curry and beer an impracticable one - but to survive and build up a reputation despite the non-central location, you must surely be doing something good in terms of value and quality.

And after all, Brasserie head chef Mohan Miah has won so many awards for his cooking that he's in the Press almost as often as Dame Judi Dench - (maybe they'll be naming a riverside walk after him soon). So it was with high expectations that we set out for the distant badlands of the Poppletons (OK, all of five minutes' drive from our Clifton homestead).

From the outside, the Bengal Brasserie may not look like much, a modern brick building tucked between a garage and the Wetherby Whaler, but inside all was very pleasant and welcoming, with a bright, modern, colourful but unobtrusive dcor, and a split-level dining room between smoking and non-smoking.

A friendly waiter welcomed us and offered us a choice of tables in the non-smoking area. Despite it being fairly early on a midweek evening, about half of the tables were full - a good sign. The furnishings pulled off the trick of being comfortable, modern and open plan, without straying too close to resembling an airport lounge.

And then there was the menu. Far from being the standard range of the English curry house (though all the old favourites are there), the Bengal Brasserie offers an impressive variety of Bengali specialities, including a lot of fish dishes and vegetarian dishes. Despite being a little different, it was far from daunting - there were full and tempting descriptions of all the dishes, so it matters little whether you don't know your aloo from your elbow or are a hardened connoisseur of Indian cuisine.

For starters, I chose an Aloo-Sag Kebab (£2.75), two cakes of potato and spinach, with salad and sauce, which was a pleasant appetiser. Vix opted for a Morich Bahar, a fried whole pepper, stuffed with spicy vegetables, which she was seriously impressed by, pausing only to mumble something about "could eat a whole meal of these".

For the main courses, my eye had been drawn to the fish, as in all my years of frequenting Asian restaurants, I've never had a fish dish, and here were plenty. And my eye kept on being drawn, to a deal on certain dishes, where for an all-inclusive £9.95, you could have a main dish, rice, naan, a mixed vegetable side dish and tarka dall. I chose the Macher Salan, a fish curry of cod prepared to "the chef's secret recipe". Vix opted for a straightforward Korma Murg Tikka, from the house specialities menu, a mild creamy chicken tikka with coconut and almonds, and ordered some rice.

The main courses arrived swiftly, with the kind of faultlessly friendly, attentive yet unobtrusive service that always puts you at your ease in a restaurant.

My fish curry was a good choice, a very pleasant change from the usual chicken option. Vix was happy but not blown away by her main course, finding it nothing out of the ordinary - and we both felt the fairly bland rice let the dishes down a bit, but the quality and size of portions was spot on.

Indeed, far from being left bloated, Vix's infamous extra stomach for puddings soon came into play, and she found room for an ice-cream from the dessert menu, while I had a cappuccino. Our total bill, including two pints of Kingfisher lager, came to a very reasonable £33.45.

We'd had a very enjoyable evening, in a relaxed and informal setting that offered both good value and enough quality, specialist cooking to impress anyone. If you're looking for a slightly different Indian experience, the Bengal Brasserie is well worth a visit, and also offers a very good value takeaway service, plus several tempting discounts and offers, such as a £7.95 Sunday buffet. We will be back to further explore the menu.

Bengal Brasserie, York Business Park, Millfield Lane, Nether Poppleton (off Wetherby Road roundabout). Tel 01904 787770

Updated: 16:25 Friday, September 20, 2002