Aaah, curry. The delicious smells wafting over the car park of The Blues pub, Oadby, had us doing an impersonation of the Bisto kids, they were so tempting, writes Sian Brewis.

We were there to check out Roti, its spanking new Indian restaurant.

It opened three weeks ago as part of a revamp at the pub.

Normally, when breweries decide to improve their pubs they can be relied upon to do anything but. Here, Everards have got it right.

The restaurant and the pub are kept separate, but don't feel like separate entities.

The pub atmosphere was buzzing nicely on the evening we popped in, and so was the restaurant, which was three quarters full – not bad going for a midweek night.

And, of course, having a curry house inside the pub itself rather neatly solves the problem of going home after having some pints, not wanting to cook and having to wait for a takeaway.

The restaurant is fairly small, but impeccable. The dining room here is light and airy, despite the dark oak flooring and purple ceiling.

Wooden tables, church pews and comfy chairs give it a welcoming but smart feel and we were soon ensconced in a lovely corner table checking out the menu.

There's a good selection here, and all at reasonable prices. Vegetarians, especially, will find something a bit different here including mogo fries, coated in garlic and ginger (£1.95) – think French fries made with cassava. They taste fantastic, too, a million miles away from McDonald's.

The meat starters were more solid, traditional fare, with chicken dominating the options.

I had a chilli chicken (£5.95) which was spiky, spicy, and delicious. Cubed pieces of tandoori chicken had been marinated in a rich tomato and onion sauce which had certainly seen a chilli or two. Yum.

Richard went for jeera chicken (£5.95) which was heavy on onion but also on flavour.

When it comes to mains, the chef is clearly a fan of less is more.

There are no pages and pages of different dishes. Instead, there are four veggie options, costing between £3.95 and £4.45, three seafood dishes (£6.95 to £7.95) and five meat courses (£5.45 to £6.45).

Richard went for lamb curry (£6.45) which he requested done in a medium sauce, and after overhearing me mentioning there was no chicken jalfrezi on the menu, they offered to cook one, which was lovely of them.

We ordered a side dish of tarkha dal (£3.95), pilau rice (£1.95) and mogo fries (£1.95).

Richard's lamb was tender and in a tasty sauce that was, for once, medium hot as ordered. However, lamb and sauce was all there was. Some vegetables, he felt, would not have gone amiss. My jalfrezi (£5.95) wasn't quite as hot as I was expecting. The chicken was tender and moist, while the sauce had a good kick, arriving with plenty of chunky veg in the sauce.

The mogo fries were a revelation, though, and – apologies for anyone expecting fine dining – made for the best curry and chips I have had in a long time.

The dal was also good, thick and substantial, scattered through with fresh coriander, the flavour coming through was a treat.

Roti has no pretensions to be offering anything other than a good curry, reasonably priced. And that's not a bad thing at all. Our meal for two came to £50, but if you take the drinks off, it was about £15 each.

Info

Roti, The Blues pub, 167 Uplands Road, Oadby

Phone: 0116 271 8928