We last visited Sahib's over a year ago, and then we thought it, "...one of the better up-market restaurants we've been to recently." This time we weren't as impressed - but there are reasons for this that might not be wholly the fault of the restaurant...

We began with onion bhajis (£1.80), vegetable pakora (£1.80), chicken pakora (2.20), and paneer pakora (£1.80). they were all well above average, freshly-cooked and crisp, a little mild, and the portions weren't that great for the price. But, all in all, a reasonable entrée.

I made the mistake of ordering all the main dishes apna-style. Usually, this results in the dishes being a little hotter than usual, but not too hot. This time the main dishes were so hot that, in a couple of cases, they were almost inedible. It's likely that the points given would have been higher if we'd not ordered this curries to be prepared apna-style.

I had a mushroom and dall, which was prepared with the split pea variety of lentil, and what tasted like tinned mushrooms. It was fine, though a little on the hot side - cooler, and it might have earned higher marks. The sag aloo paneer was too hot, the spinach a little watery, and lacked a fully-rounded flavour. Also, the paneer was rubbery and lacking in flavour. The sag aloo mutter paneer was as above, and MichaelH commented, "All chilli powder and a lack of fully-integrated spices. Disappointing." The chicken peshawari was very disappointing, "My previous experience of Sahib's was that curries were served milder than the Bradford norm. I therefore plumped for one of the hot dishes, not realising they were going to be apna-style. The result was a curry swamped with the taste of chilli, and nothing else." The peshawari was described as, "3/10 if you like taste. 10/10 if you like them really hot. This curry had very little taste but was over-spiced so that it drowned out the rest of the flavours. The meat was reasonable, but the dish over-all very poor."

All in all, then, not the best curry we've sampled of later - but there were extenuating factors. We'd recommend a visit to the Shabib, but be warned about ordering your dishes apna-style!

(The price of the main meals does not include chapattis, etc: Chappatis: 40p, tandoori roti: 70p, naan: £1.10, Garlic naan: £1.50, boiled rice: £1.00.)

This was our first visit to Sahib's, which has been in business only five weeks - but we'll be back. It's a big, up-market establishment, sumptuously furnished and decorated, lovely to look at and with a great atmosphere.

We started with onion bhaji (£1.60), vegetable pakora (£1.60), mushroom pakora (£1.60), vegetable samosas (£1.60, for two), and aloo kebabs (£1.80). They were all very good. The mushroom pakoras were excellent, boasting the largest, juiciest mushrooms I've ever seen, in a crisp, tangy-hot batter. The samosas were also excellent - freshly-made and nicely spiced with fresh chilli. The aloo kebabs contained meat - I didn't read the menu description closely enough - so vegetarians be warned. The starters came with free popadums and spice tray. All in all, then, an auspicious start. Would the main dishes match the starters in quality?

Pleased to say, they did.

My mutter paneer was very good, on the hot side, with quite an after-burn, and a rich, authentic sauce - I would have given this dish a nine, but for the fact that there was not that much paneer. The zafrani was also enjoyed: it was described on the menu as "diced chicken breast off the bone marinated in spices and fried with fresh tomatoes..." It came with rice and a salad, and the portion was huge, the chicken beautifully tender and tasty. The mushroom korma was excellent - we specified that it should be very mild, and the chef obliged: the sauce was rich, thick, not at all sickly as in some kormas, and again the mushrooms were of the giant mutant variety. The dhall piaz was one of the best dhall dishes we've sampled of late: the brown lentils came in a fiery sauce and had a superb, peppery aftertaste. All the other dishes were much enjoyed - one comment being that, for an up-market restaurant, they didn't serve mild, perfumed, Anglicised curries. These were the real McCoy.

We finished with good coffee - but a minus point was that they served only expensive ice cream deserts, and not barfi.

We thought Sahib's one of the better up-market restaurants we've been to recently, and we'll be back in a few months to see if they have managed to maintain the high standards. Highly recommended.

(The price of the main meals does not include chapattis, etc: Chappatis: 40p, tandoori roti: 70p, naan: £1.10, Garlic naan: £1.50, boiled rice: £1.00.)