Rise of the Raj, Micklegate, York

Maybe it's because Micklegate is a street associated with being hell-bent on intoxication rather than with looking for a bite to eat, but I'd never really noticed the unimposing frontage of the Rise Of The Raj, tucked away within a stone's throw of the modern exterior of the Jinnah over the road.

Perhaps it's the kind of place that only becomes visible with beer goggles on, when the curry-homing instinct of your average Micklegate Runner kicks in.

Which is a shame, because though it may look like your typical, slightly shabby, city curry house from the outside, the Rise Of The Raj actually offers some of the friendliest service of any restaurant in this city, and food worthy of a visit from any discerning York curry hound.

Nine o'clock on a weekday night and Micklegate is dead, so we didn't even think about booking. A friendly waiter showed us to a table right in the front window of the long, narrow restaurant - a bit public for my liking.

The place was quiet, but throughout the evening the handful of other diners ranged from couples young and old, to two blokes talking work, to a small gaggle of rowing-and-rugger-type students.

I'd brought a crack team of curry enthusiasts with me to put the Raj through its paces, my partner Vix, and our friends Sam and Emily, both hardened foodies with a taste for the spicy stuff, and Sam a vegetarian to boot. We ordered poppadums and two starters to share out, a Korai mixed special (£2.95) and a veggie samosa (£2.25).

The Korai offered hefty, juicy chunks of lamb and chicken, while Sam was impressed with both the size and quality of the samosa, describing it as "really good, light, crisp and tasty".

Bottles of Cobra beer (£2.25) were ordered all round and this is where we realised there was something special about the service - the waiters even pour your bottled beer into your glass for you, without being obsequious or sarcastic.

Throughout the evening, the two waiters on duty were attentive and cheerful, without ever being in-your-face, putting us at our ease.

For the main courses, Emily chose to wrap her fireproof tonsils around a king prawn madras (£5.95), with onion rice (£1.95). She was impressed by the price for a king prawn dish, and the quantity; "about ten fat prawns". Though a little disappointed her rice wasn't basmati rice, she was pleased with the crispy onions and the overall lack of greasiness.

Sam, who was pleasantly surprised by the range of vegetarian dishes available, went for a vegetable dansak (£4.25), which was "pleasant without being outstanding", though he was impressed with his side dish of Bombay potatoes (£2).

Vix's favourite Indian dish, chicken passanda (£6.95) also went down well. Though they weren't generous enough with the sultanas for her sweet tooth's liking, the meat was a bonus - on inspection it was juicy, marinaded tikka chicken, even though it wasn't mentioned as such on the menu.

Similarly, my chicken tikka balti (£6.95) was tender and sizzling, the balti sauce sharp and tangy rather than a bland, lardy stew as is often the case, and the vegetable pilau rice we both had was full of tasty veg.

As is well-documented, girls have a separate stomach for desserts, so as Sam and myself conspicuously slackened our belts about our bloated bellies, Emily sampled the pistachio kulfi which she was seriously impressed by, mumbling things about "being worthy of Haagen-Dazs" in a fairly ecstatic manner, and Vix was temporarily robbed of the power of speech by an ice-cream creation.

The total damage for four hungry and thirsty people was £75.15, or around £18 each.

It's not York's cheapest Indian restaurant, nor its most salubrious-looking, but in terms of service and food, the Raj can do battle with the best of them.

Of course, it could be a very different picture in there on a Friday or Saturday night.

The Rise Of The Raj, 112 Micklegate, York. Tel 01904 622975.

Factfile:

Food: Good

Service: Excellent

Value: Pretty good

Ambience: Friendly

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