The Eastern Eye boasts more celebrity endorsements than Touche Éclat and a plethora of glistening gongs from all manner of food guides (including Les Routiers, Fodor and the British Curry Awards). It’s situated in a gorgeous Georgian townhouse and features a domed-ceiling dining room and walls painted with elaborate Indian murals. The staff treat all-comers like royalty, and menus are as bling-laden as such a build-up suggests. And yet, when it comes to bill time, a voyage down Overdraft Alley isn’t even close to the radar. Little wonder, then, that if you ask a Bathonian to point you in the direction of their favourite curry house, you’ll be trekking down Quiet Street before you can say poppadom.

Having digested a menu that offers a full explanation of how Indian food ‘works’ before flagging up every dish with highlighters denoting heat, sugar, nut, wheat and dairy content, we started our Eastern adventure with a tower of fresh, crisp poppadoms (oh come on; it’s obligatory) before moving swiftly on to dhaka chicken roll (marinated, gently spicy chicken wrapped in a soft, very fresh parata) and a green pepper stuffed with a similarly styled filling and barbecued in the tandoori oven. To follow, lamb tikka taka tak for Him (chosen partly just because he liked saying the name of the dish) while I, being a contrary critic forever in search of novelty, opted for king prawn kumpo garlic, billed as ‘Chinese food Indian style’. My choice translated into a deep pot of lightly battered prawns in a rich sauce similar to a classic black bean base but still somehow distinctly ‘Indian’ in flavour, while His tikka taka tak was as satisfying to eat as it was to order: a sumptuous combination of lamb, curry spices and cinnamon offering maximum appeal on a chilly winter’s night. A side of tarka dhal was as good as the genre gets, rice came in a fluffy, steaming mound and a soporific pillow of peshwari naan has to be the freshest I’ve ever tasted. The wine flowed, a pistachio and almond kulfi proved to be compelling, a frozen limoncello was thrust upon me (hey, it would have been rude to resist)... and still the bill refused scrape much above £70. Curry nirvana indeed. (Melissa Blease)

EASTERN EYE 8A QUIET ST, BATH, BA1 2JS. TEL: 01225 422323, WEB: www.easterneye.com

VENUE VERDICT

A GENTEEL, STYLISH INDIAN TREAT SERVED WITH A FLOURISH THAT TOTALLY BELIES THE PROSAIC PRICES

Copyright Melissa Blease 2010