Chowki

Unlike most in Indian restaurants, Chowki specialises in distinctive regional dishes, with each month featuring three regions, each offering three starters, three mains and a pudding.



I started with a quail(£4.25)from Rajastan, the historically war-like, desert state. The bird -- cooked in onion and tomato masala, with roasted cumin, coriander of lemon juice -- was very juicy and had be gnawing at every last scrap in a most unladylike manner.
The semolina prawns (£4.50) hailed from Mangalore, the cashew and coffee capital on India's Western coast. The four prawns were good-sized but a little bit on the dry side for my liking.



The vegetarian curry from Mangalore (£8.95) was luxurious mix of mushrooms and spinach, with an almost cheesy flavour, despite being advertised as coming in a tomato gravy. I thought it would have been a perfect filling for a French crepe, perhaps with a fried egg on top!



The lamb stew (£11.95) -- billed as an ancient Rajasthani delicacy -- featured tasty, juicy meat in a spicy sauce. (The husband's main memory of it though turns out to be the fact that he only got rice, dhal and rotti-type bread to go with it, while those who'd opted for the three-course "feast" menu (£14.95) got four side orders.)
I wasn't a fan of the milk-based deserts (around £3), but I was quite full anyway and the others ate them happily enough, plus there are also ice creams on offer.
The decor was a bit plain and canteen-like, and the service verged on the inattentive, but this was all more than over-ruled by the delicious food. Price-wise it's certainly not the cheapest curry house in town, but I'd say it ranks pretty highly on the value-for-money stakes. It is all the more of a find for being in tourist-central, just a few steps down a side street from the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly Circus.

Chowki, 2-3 Denman Street, W1D 7HA; Tel: 020 7439 1330 www.chowki.com; Tube: Piccadilly; Chowki offers 2-4-1 to tastelondon card-holders.

Mela

The West End is full of very mediocre, tourist-trap eateries -- but scattered among them is a surprising number of real gems. Mela is a breath of fresh air after the curry houses on Brick Lane: there is not a whiff of chicken tikka masala or vindaloo. Instead, from an extensive and unusual menu we chose a dish of soft-shell crab from Hyderabad (£14.95) and a whole sea bream steamed in a banana leaf with a delicate paste of spices (£11.95). The crab was very tender, and I lapped up all of the only very moderately spicy sauce, revelling in the flavours of coconut, coriander, garlic and tamarind. The sea bream was a pain to bone (I'm not a fan of working hard for my food!), but the delicate taste of the fish -- and the accompanying green paste of mint and coconut -- made the hassle worthwhile. The cumin rice was a bit strong on the cumin for an accompaniment (serves us right for ordering it!), but the 'pudina paratha', a crispy wheat bread flavoured with a generous sprinkling of fresh mint (£2.50) was a much nicer alternative to a greasy naan. The 'arhar dal kairi ki' (£4.95) was a delicious bowl of buttery lentils, although I could not taste the raw mango promised on the menu. The drinks menu has a decent selection of wines and cocktails, but we stuck to Indian beers. The service was friendly and attentive. The decor was quite simple, but with nice touches -- the plates feature a motif of a big fair ground wheel, and there is a meccano model of one balanced above the staircase. We're definitely coming back, to try more of their interesting dishes.

Mela, 152-156 Shaftesbury Avenue,WC2H 8HL; Tel. 020 7836 8635 ; Tube: Leicester Sq; www.melarestaurant.co.uk