The Café Punjab has the bright façade and the fish-and-chip type counter of a typical fast-food joint, but in the back there is a curry house. We last ate here in '98, and then we considered it a "solid establishment serving good portions of above average curry at reasonable prices." We complained that chapattis had to be ordered separately if you were having a dish from the vegetarian section - but this has been cleared up: all dishes are served with a choice of either three chapattis or boiled rice.

The starters were nothing to write home about. Onion bhaji (£1.30), potato bhaji (£1.00), chicken pakora (£2.00), and mushroom bhaji (£1.00). They were all rather soggy and bland, with the exception of the onion bhajis, which were burned on the outside and doughy inside.

The main dishes were of various standards. My dall spinach lacked dall and was too salty, but the texture and consistency of the spinach was excellent. The veg paneer special was described as, "Poor. Very bland, tinned veg, with small pieces of paneer." The matter paneer was described as, "Unremarkable, but adequate. The portion was a bit small, and the cheesy bits lacked the slightly rubbery texture that I like my paneers to have - to distinguish them in the mouth from the rest of the dish." The Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi contained large chunks of chicken in a thick, spicy sauce, with scattered slices of boiled egg, and was enjoyed.

The chapattis were excellent: light, fine and tasty. The Café Punjab also serves fried chicken, kebabs, burgers, pasta, and something called 'noodle surprise'. We didn't try it.

The atmosphere of the place could be better - it's a bit spartan - and the night we dined it was cold.

All in all, a mixed bag. We'd certainly recommend this restaurant for some dishes, but not for others. But it's definitely worth a try.

(All dishes are served with a choice of either three chapattis or boiled rice.)

The Café Punjab (Balti restaurant and Fast Food Take Away) looks like a typical city centre fast food joint from the outside - but don't be deceived. Beyond the garish façade and long fish-and-chip type counter is a curry house. The question was, what would the curries be like from a place which also serves pizzas, burgers, southern fried chicken, kebabs, noodles, and pasta?

We began with onions bhaji (70p), potato bhaji (70p), and mushroom bhaji (90p). While the onion bhajis were nice enough, though nothing special, the others starters were disappointing, the potato bhaji and mushroom bhaji both soggy and rather bland.

We didn't hold out much hope of a decent main course - perhaps the café Punjab was spreading itself too thinly?

We had nothing to worry about. The curries were well above average. I had a mushroom and dall, and while the dall wasn't as tasty as that of the Kashmir, the mushrooms were fresh and succulent and the portion generous. The dall and spinach was enjoyed: the dish had a better than average flavour, with a good consistency and sufficient spices to be tasty and not too hot. The channay (their spelling) and potatoes went down well, with a subtle flavour of tomato (often overdone), and chick peas which were cooked to a beautiful texture, neither too soft nor too hard. The chicken tikka bhuna was perhaps too heavily influenced by tomato. Overall, our impression of the Café Punjab was of a solid establishment serving good portions of above average curry at reasonable prices. However, the restaurant lost points on the chapatti allocation front. The dishes in the 'vegetarian' section of the menu (at £3.30 each) do not come with chapattis, which must be ordered separately. There is no mention of this on the menu, and our waiter failed to tell us when we ordered. When our dishes came, we were four servings of chapattis short. We felt that the lack of chapattis in the vegetarian section should either be mentioned in the menu, or the prices of the vegetarian fare increased accordingly.

Other than the above criticism, we experienced a pleasant curry experience and will no doubt return to the Café Punjab at a later date.

(All dishes - except those in the 'vegetarian' section - come with a choice of rice or three chapattis.)