It was exactly two years ago that we last review the International, and then we wrote: "All in all a good dining experience at the cheaper end of the curry spectrum - and it was great to see Khalid once again performing his remarkable memory tricks." We did drop in at the start of the year, when the restaurant was temporarily relocated across the road. On that occasional we weren't reviewing, which was probably just as well, as the curry we sampled that night was the worst we've ever had the misfortune of eating in the city.

But they've moved back across the road, into a nicely decorated, refurbished restaurant, on the site of the old International, and the standard of the fare has improved immeasurably.

Having said that, we were disappointed with the starters. We had onion bhaji (£1.20), chicken pakora (£2.00), veg pakora (£1.20), and mushroom pakora (£1.50). They were all rather stodgy, the batter pudding-like, and bland. Not to be recommended.

Our main courses were, on the whole, rather better.

There were twelve of us dining that night (and our numbers defeated even Khalid's ability to memorise all the dishes), so a comprehensive review of all the dishes would be impossible. Instead, I'll give an over-view of the dishes liked and disliked.

My balti mixed vegetable was good - an excellent variety of fresh vegetables in a rich, medium-spicy sauce. The potatoes were cooked to perfection, always a good sign. The saag aloo paneer was described as: "Very good. The spinach had a food, firm consistency, not at all mushy, and the potatoes were likewise not boiled to a mush. It was mild, but piquant. The only criticism was the small amount of paneer in the dish." The tarka dall with paneer was enjoyed, a rich, buttery dish with a good helping of paneer.

On the down side, several dishes came in for criticism. IanW reported that: "My saag mutter paneer was a little disappointing. The spinach was slightly stewed, and the overall dish was stodgy. It was mild, and contained a poor portion of paneer." RachelS's saag aloo paneer was, "Rather disappointing, as it was bland and the spinach was rather bitter, as if it had been overcooked. The best bit was the paneer which was at least quite tasty."

Other dishes, except one, as can be seen by the points rating, scored above average.

All in all, the standard of fare at the International has risen in the two years since our last review, and we'd recommend our readers to experience the restaurant for themselves, (perhaps in a smaller group than our party of thirteen!)

(The curries are served with a choice of either three chappatis or boiled rice.)

We visited the International last August, and almost a year later not much has changed. Even the prices, remarkably, remain the same. It's still the cheap, cheerful, very average restaurant that will never win any awards but will always serve a reliable and consistent curry. It's a small place with a tiny front room and a larger room to the rear, white-tiled and rather claustrophobic.

We started with onion bhaji(80p), mushroom pakora (80p), and Chicken pakora (£2.00). The onion bhaji was nothing special, but the mushroom pakora was exceptional - vast mouth-watering mushrooms in crispy batter. Recommended. The chicken pakora was succulent and well spiced.

I plumped for a vegetable madras this time - a brave choice as this was my first curry in a few weeks. I found it a little too hot for my taste - which is no criticism at all: what did I expect, a korma? The dish had a good selection of nicely cooked vegetables in a pleasing sauce. The potatoes and spinach was above average, a mild dish which, however, didn't compare favourably with the same curry down the road at the Kashmir. The only complaint levelled at the potato and chick peas was that the chick peas were too mushy - but then JohnM does like his peas like bullets. The potatoes, peas and spinach was average fare.

We finished off with a decent selection of barfi, and some truly appalling coffee.

(All dishes are served with three chapattis or rice.)

Perhaps we've been spoilt in the past by superb restaurants like the Silver Jubilee and the Kashmir, whose curries will be hard to better. The International serves unpretentious, standard curries at very good rates, and, while the fare was better than average, it just wasn't in the same league as the above mentioned.

The restaurant was busy at nine-thirty when we arrived, the small front room full and the larger, windowless back room quickly filling up. We began with onion bhaji (80p) and chips (80P). The bhajis were of the donut variety, a little on the heavy side with not a lot of onion, while the chips were pretty average. On the plus side we were given free popadoms with an excellent yoghurt-based sauce.

I sampled my customary dall dish, this time with potatoes, which was above average but lacked that rich spiciness which would have made it exceptional. The chick pea dish, in the opinion of our chick pea aficionado, was overcooked and the peas pulpy. The vegetable masala was the best of the dishes, full-flavoured and plentiful. The veg dansak seemed suspiciously like the veg masala, with the addition of pineapple chunks - always a minus point. The chicken and spinach curry, while acceptable, was nothing special - which could stand as the overall criticism of this restaurant. We've had worse curries in our travels, and better. It's another one of these cheap restaurant that proliferate in Bradford, and certainly worth a try.

(All dishes are served with three chapattis or rice.)