This was our first visit to the Spicy Cottage in Wibsey, after hearing some good reports from locals. It's a cosy restaurant with great atmosphere, and seats forty people. The night we dined it was about a third full, and there was a constant stream of take-away customers.

We started with onion bhaji (£1.00), onion rings (£1.00), veg pakora (£1.40) and mushroom pakora (£1.00). The onion bhaji were doughy and underdone and contained little onion, while the onion rings were appalling - soggy and absolutely tasteless. The veg pakora were better - at least they were thoroughly cooked, but still on the bland side. The best of the lot were the mushroom pakoras, succulent mushrooms in a crisp, hot batter. So, on the whole, a disappointing lot of starters. Would the main meals be any better?

We ordered them all apna-style, for authenticity. The tarka dall was, not to mince words, dreadful: the lentils were underdone and crunchy, making them almost inedible, and the sauce was exactly the same as that in which my overdone cauliflower and potatoes wallowed. My dish was pretty bad - the cauliflower was a tasteless mush - and, but for the heat of chillies, lacked distinction. The milli juli sabzi (mixed vegetables) was described by MichaelH as: "Very poor - only the addition of chillies gave any taste to the rather dull masala sauce. I expected a mix of vegetables, but it seemed to consist mainly of courgettes and over-cooked cauliflower. Unexciting, and a poor eating experience." The sag aloo was insipid and watery, again pepped up by the flavour of chillies. The murgh rogan josh came in a very basic, tomato ketchup sauce, and although the chicken was plentiful, the curry itself was bland and unappetising. The only dish we sampled that rated at all was the mushroom special, which, while consisting of the same sauce as all the other vegetable dishes, was saved by the addition of good quality mushrooms.

All in all, we were disappointed with the Spicy Cottage. We're willing to concede that we caught it on a bad night, and we'll be back in a few months to see if things have improved. (A note on the service: it was excellent, fast and friendly.)

(All the balti dishes come with a choice of chapattis or boiled rice. Tandoori nan £1.00, Garlic nan £1.50.)