BHINDI'S, a new restaurant in Hatfield Road, is a significant cut above the multitude of curry houses in St Albans, as I discovered on my visit.

That became evident even before the starters, with the chutneys accompanying our popadoms offering a much more subtle range of tastes than the usual mega-sour and sickly sweet.

Developing the theme of spices used skilfully to produce delicate flavours rather blow away the palate, the alu papri chat showed how a potato can be a delicacy, not mere supplementary stodge.

My main dish, chicken tikka moricha, was described on the menu as "fairly hot", but I wouldn't have complained had it been a little stronger.

As it was, the blend of ginger, garlic, spring onion suffused the tender chicken to produce a dish which offered an exciting range of flavour with every mouthful.

I ordered okra, having previously found this a revealing indicator of the quality of an Indian restaurant - it can vary from tough and stringy to crisp and bursting with flavour.

Fittingly, Bhindi's bhindi was the best I have ever had, and the highlight of the meal.

My companion chose "Bhindi's special", lamb which she said was so deliciously marinated she was reluctant to add the korma sauce.

Much as I adore alcohol, I don't find it goes well with spicy food, and I was relieved to be offered a refreshing salty lassi to drink.

Owner Golem Yahiga, who opened on November 22, told me: "Although I am from Bangladesh, I want to offer the best dishes from all over the sub-continent.

"Our menu has a lot of speciality dishes that people don't know about, even if they are used to Asian food.

"There are some quite unusual dishes."