The dominant Asian restaurant on Leeds Road is Akbars, which means that many of the other restaurants are often overlooked. Due to diners queuing out of the door, we decided to move further up the road and sample the delights of the Pakeezah. Previous visits have been quite a mixed affair so we weren’t expecting anything special.

Unusually, the Pakeezah was quite full, dominated by a large Asian party. Escorted to the last non-smoking table we leafed through the menu and selected our starters. The onion bhaji, machli pakora, potato bhaji were all excellent, crispy and fresh, with special mention to the paneer pakora that was soft and spongy.

After delivering fine starters, many restaurants fail the main course hurdle, with dishes tasting bland and indistinct. Fortunately, at the Pakeezah, we were treated to above average curries with positive comments reverberating from my fellow diners. My Chicken Tikka Saag was rich, if a little oily. The Bhindi sidedish was very rich, with a deep satisfying taste. The Lamb Tikka Jalfrezi was oily, but rich with chunky pieces of meat. The only poor dish was the Tarka Dall Paneer, where the dall was not cooked enough.

One point to note is that the Pakeezah serve a small selection of English dishes.

Next time you are struggling to get into Akbars, then give the Pakeezah a try. They serve above average dishes in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.

(Sundries must be ordered extra: chapati 40p, nan £1.25, garlic nan £1.65, pilau rice £1.45, boiled rice £1.20.)

We last visited this restaurant well over a year ago, and we were sadly disappointed. Then we wrote: "We're willing to believe that we caught the Pakeezah on a bad night... All in all a bit of a let-down from a restaurant we had hoped would do better."

It probably was a bad night back then, because the standard of the fare on offer now is far higher.

We began with a very good selection of starters. Vegetable puri (£1.95), potato bhaji (£1.50), bengun pakora (£1.95), and vegetable rolls (£1.75). The puri, a mild mixed vegetable curry on a deep-fried chapatti, was excellent. The potato bhaji was crisp, freshly-cooked and beautifully-spiced - as was the bengun pakora (though the aubergines were perhaps sliced a little thinly). The vegetable rolls were mouth-watering, lightly-spiced vegetables in filo pastry rolls. All in all, a fine introduction to what we hoped would be a similar main course.

Overall, we were well satisfied. My maash dopaza was far better than the last one I sampled here: then it tasted of nothing but ghee, and was undercooked. This one was piquantly spiced, nicely hot, and cooked to perfection. The balti matter paneer also scored highly: a generous serving of tasty Asian cheese in a medium-rich sauce, not too hot. The balti aloo chana was well above-average, the sauce thick and rich, though the potatoes were perhaps cut too thickly too absorb the curry flavour. We had two conflicting views on the balti palak paneer: IanW thought the spinach in his dish was, "too bland, lacking taste, though the portion was very good." JulianF reported, "a good helping of paneer in a mild sauce: very good."

The Pakeezah is a big restaurant with a pleasant, intimate atmosphere. The menu is wonderfully extensive, and dishes can be customised to order. The service is friendly and attentive, and much faster than last time (when we had to wait one hour for our main courses - this time it was only thirty minutes). The fare we sampled was way above the average, and we'd recommend this restaurant as a 'must visit' venue for the serious curry fan. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to sample coffee and barfi: maybe next time.

(All the balti dishes come with a choice of tandoori nan or pilau rice. With other dishes, sundries must be ordered extra: chapati 40p, nan £1.25, garlic nan £1.65, pilau rice £1.45, boiled rice £1.20.)

The Pakeezah is a big, spacious restaurant with all the atmosphere of a high-class, high-priced establishment. However, the prices are reasonable considering the décor and ambience, though the accompaniments, chapattis, rice, etc, are not included in the price of the curries.

We started with onion bhaji (£1.50), potato bhaji (£1.50), chicken Pakora (£2.50), and aloo chana puri (£1.95). They arrived twenty-five minutes later - a bit slow, we thought - but were well worth the wait. They were among the finest selection of starters we've sampled over the past year. The aloo chana puri - spiced chick peas on a deep fried roti - and the chicken pakora were exceptional. We had high hopes for our main dishes.

These arrived almost one hour after we placed our order, a delay we found unaccountable, as the restaurant was less than a quarter full. They proved a bit of a mixed bag. The best of the lot was the chicken tikka sag: large pieces of chicken accompanied by juicy spinach. The chicken tikka dopiaza was good but lacking the quantity of onions normally associated with this dish. My dish, maash bhuna - tiny lentils in a mild sauce - was very disappointing: the lentils had little taste other than the ghee in which they were cooked, and they were also underdone. Likewise the chana bhuna disappointed, both dishes being bland and nondescript... The meat dhansak contained more lentils and pineapple than meat, and was also described as bland. On the plus side, the portions were generous. We're willing to believe that we caught the Pakeezah on a bad night - on the evidence of the chicken tikka sag, they can produce good dishes. However, there was no excuse for the poor service: not only were our meals slow in arriving, but we had to asked for water and a glass of mango lassi (£1.25), three times before they arrived.

All in all a bit of a let-down from a restaurant we had hoped would do better.

(Chapattis 40p, plain nan £1.25, garlic nan £1.65, and rice, are not included in the price of the curies.)