Chester's Asian restaurant scene has been revitalised in the last few years with a welcome injection of choice.
You can now sample top-notch Thai food alongside high-quality Chinese eateries, the odd all-you-can-handle buffet and those places that serve up an ambitious mixture of the lot, catering for all tastes oriental.
But what of the humble curry house? How is it faring, that late-night bastion of the high street, that erstwhile champion of flock wallpaper, dingy booths and bombay duck?
Thankfully, the most basic of these establishments have died a merciful death or have been dragged screaming into the 21st century.
But does the spirit live on? There are several more than adequate and long-established Indian restaurants dotted around Chester, notably on the 'mini-mile' of Brook Street.
But which is the best? A few years ago Chester received a double boost with the opening of a curry house above a city centre pub (for most men that's surely two thirds of the wish-list ticked off !) and then the arrival of a branch of Rusholme's most famous, Shere Khan.
Neither stayed around too long. The one above the pub probably suffered from logistical problems but why we lost the other, a welcome and popular addition, remains a mystery.
But its open-plan, airy atmosphere established a template for what was supposed to be the future.
The days of flock wallpaper and booths apparently were over. (And as for that popular yet pungent crispy curry condiment called bombay duck... well it seems that the dried bummalo fish was caught long ago by European Union import restrictions).
The trouble with the open-plan revolution, however, was that it wasn't universally popular.
There are those diners out there - and they're far more likely to be curry house connoisseurs than late-night boozers with 'the munchies' - who are actually quite fond of the old booth-style seating and want to preserve the best traditions of the classic high street 'Indian.'
It you doubt this, visit City Road's Gate of India restaurant early on a Saturday night. You may well have to join the queue for a table. We did and the meal was well worth the wait because, the merits of 'booths' aside, the food here is very good.
Not surprisingly, the place is very popular. Once inside though, if you haven't booked you are not turned away. Waiting customers are shoehorned in and assemble in a crowd by the door which can be a minor irritation to diners, like us, who don't actually get a booth (!) and are sitting at that end of the restaurant and forced to feel an icy blast when the door opens to accommodate the throng.
The menu is familiar, again genuinely part of the appeal to many. But it is a big selection and does contain a few surprises (lamb marango, anyone?).
We decided a on a few spicy favourites without opting for anything too fiery. Indeed, the hottest item ordered was probably the chilli pickle that accompanied our fresh and crisp poppadoms.
(We can stand the heat, honestly! Sometimes, though, the less assertive dish may be the tastier).
My wife kicked off with an excellent meat samosa which is almost certainly the biggest and, I would suggest, the best in town.
The filo-style pastry encases a finely-chopped filling of lean and spicy lamb. Truly superb, this is perfect with the accompanying yoghurt.
I decided to leave room for dessert in the interests of research and so opted for a soup starter which I reckoned would not be too filling. Wrong!
Mulligatawny soup is literally 'pepper water' but there was nothing watery about this offering. It was described as 'hot' on the menu but was actually a mild and very thick lentil and rice-based broth with fresh lemon. It was more than enjoyable and at £1.85 is a real bargain, more a meal in its own right.
Shocking as it may sound, one of the newer and more unforgivable trends among the lazier of our nation's Indian restaurants is to serve chicken tikka as the basis of all sauced-based chicken curries.
This is bad on two fronts, it's no good if you don't like the taste of tikka and it also proves the chicken isn't freshly prepared for the particular dish. Not so here, you get the option.
But that's an aside because I ordered a king prawn pathia, a sweet and sour dish featuring prawns so tasty they created a genuine seafood curry rather than one in which the flavours are overwhelmed by the spices.
My wife enjoyed a starter portion of fresh and moist chicken tandoori accompanied by the lentil-based lemony tarka dhal as a main course.
Fresh coriander crowned everything in sight. With basmati rice, this was all a real filler and I was probably glad I had no room for fritters, melbas or ice cream.
The Gate of India does have a selection of wines including a bottle of house red or white at £9.95. But nothing accompanies a curry better than a pint of Indian beer. They offer the ubiquitous, refreshing Cobra on draught and Lal Toofan and Kingfisher in bottles.
Service at the Gate of India is excellent. There was an understandable yet reassuring wait for our main courses. The staff were incredibly busy - but there seems to be scores of them serving the two floors full of diners.
And yes, the restaurant certainly expects to attract the post-pub/club crowd being open until 1.30 am on weekdays and until 3 am on Friday and Saturday.
All in all, you get the impression that very little has really changed here for years and, to a host of regular curry devotees, this is nothing to be sneered at.
There is a 10% discount on takeaway meals before 11pm.
Factfile
* Gate of India, 25 City Road Chester CH1 3AE. Tel (01244) 327131.
* Starters: Poppadoms and pickles, mulligatawny soup (£1.85), meat samosa and salad (£2.35).
* Mains: King prawn pathia (£10.10), small chicken tandoori with salad (£3.10), tarka dhal (£2.85), basmati rice (£1.65).
* Drinks: Two pints of Cobra Indian lager (£5.70), two small bottles of dry cider (£4.40).
* Total (for two): £35.35.
* Best bit: Good food, pleasant hard-working staff.
* Worst bit: Limited space for those awaiting a table.
* Would suit: Devotees of the traditional and satisfying curry house experience.
* Wouldn't suit: Those seeking ultra-chic minimalism.
