THERE are times when only a good curry will do and like many Indian food lovers we have our favourite local where everybody knows your name.

But occasionally it’s worth trying a variation of the theme, which is why we decided to check out the Himalay Nepalese Restaurant in Westbourne one Thursday evening.

The last time we’d eaten there was shortly after it first opened under a different name some years ago, but we’d always planned to return.

As we stepped through the doors our first impression was how quiet it was – there were only two other diners but we noticed all the other bars and cafes in the area were empty too.

The waiter was excellent though and guided us through the menu while we sipped tall glasses of chilled Cobra beer.

We then tucked into some crispy popadoms served with mint sauce, lime pickle, mango chutney and an onion salad which looked and tasted freshly prepared.

For my main course I plumped for the Pantanko Chicken with plenty of soft, tender pieces of chicken cooked in the tandoori and served in a thick sesame sauce which was sweet but with a bit of a kick.

My husband chose the Chicken Bhotuwa served in a karai pot packed with large chunks of chicken in a spicy gravy with onion, garlic, ginger and fenugreek seeds that was hot enough to make his nose run!

Our side orders included a portion of fragrant pilau rice, Himalayan Aloo – Nepalese style dry fried potato wedges – and a Mushroom Tarkari. All the dishes were perfectly cooked and contained top quality ingredients.

Our bill, which included two pints of lager, came to a reasonable £33.95.