We last visited the Asha over a year ago, when we reported that the restaurant served above average curries, though the portions were small.

The portions have increased, but so have the prices - and the standard of the fare we sampled this Friday was way down on our last visit.

The Asha occupies the middle ground between the cheaper end of the market and the more expensive establishments - with table clothes, knives and forks, and curries ranging from £3.59 to £7.15. It has a pleasant, intimate atmosphere, and an alcohol licence.

We ordered onion bhaji (£1.75), vegetable samosa (£1.75) and aloo chana (£1.50). The bhajis were poor, oily and, tasteless, and expensive. The samosas - two per portion, though small - were better, though very mild and again poor value at £1.75. Unfortunately, we were initially brought meat samosas which we only discovered upon eating. The aloo chana was a side dish curry of chick peas and potato, mild but acceptable.

We were very disappointed with our main courses. I had a mushroom massala, consisting of tinned mushrooms in an incredibly bland sauce that tasted as though it had been thickened with cornflour. The aloo chana was no better, insipid, overcooked and almost tasteless. The mixed vegetable massala and the vegetable dopiaza likewise were bland and unappetising. In fact, all five dishes were cooked in an identical sauce. Only the rogan josh scored above average, but this mark from a non-regular to our Friday night reviews.

In all honesty we can't bring ourselves to recommend this restaurant to serious connoisseurs of Asian food. Comments after the meal were along the lines of: "What slop!" and "How can they serve such inauthentic Indian food and get away with it?"

We'll be visiting the Asha again (but not for a while!) to see if things have improved.

(The curries are served with a choice of either chapattis, pilau rice, chips, nan, or tandoori roti.)

The Asha occupies the middle ground between the cheaper end of the market and the more expensive establishments - with table clothes, knives and forks, and curries ranging from £3.50 to £6.95. It has a pleasant, intimate atmosphere, though it was empty when we dined at ten on Friday night. The service is friendly and efficient, and it has an alcohol licence. We kicked off with onion bhaji (£1.75), mushroom bhaji (£1.75) and shami kebab (£1.85). I found the onion bhaji perfectly acceptable, fragrantly spiced and tasty (though the hard-to-please MichaelH considered it greasy). The mushroom bhaji was of the sauce variety, a mild curry on a puree (a deep-fried chapatti), and was excellent. The shami, likewise, was enjoyed. The main dishes ran the gamut in terms of points earned from a lowly three (MichaelH again) to a very respectable eight. I had a dhall and mushroom, and though very mild was nicely flavoured and enjoyable, though on the down side the lentils had been cooked to a mush, and the portion was small. The sag dhall masala was not enjoyed: bland, tasteless and overcooked was the verdict. On a more positive note, the dhall mushroom balti was excellent, with a rich, thick, and flavoursome sauce. The vegetable rogan josh earned just six points from JohnM, but was enjoyed by those who sampled it - perhaps the best-tasting of all the dishes. A general criticism was that we finished the meal still feeling hungry - the portions were on the small side, and the chapattis, though tasty enough, were rather thin and insubstantial. We'd recommend that diners order a side-dish each (around: £1.75 each) to be assured of a full stomach, or extra chapattis. We finished off with above average coffee (70p), and a thick mango lassi at £2.50 a jug. The Asha has an extensive menu and is willing to combine ingredients not listed, and while not in the premier league of restaurants in the city, is well worth a visit.

(All dishes come with a choice of three chapattis or rice.)