IHAVE eaten at so many good Indian restaurants in recent years I had begun to believe these meals must be easy to provide.

This was a huge mistake. Several weeks before Christmas, I visited the Lake District, where a nice pub I found was gleefully advertising its Indian curry evening.

Stuck for somewhere to eat, I decided to return to sample its fare and it was nothing short of awful.

Nevertheless, it taught me a salutary lesson: never take anything for granted.

It also gives power to my new theory -- that in Bolton and surrounding areas we are blessed with a high number of good quality Indian restaurants.

The new India Gate restaurant is housed in a large building on the A6 at Westhoughton. It has accommodated others over the years, notably an American theme restaurant, which I remember visiting several times.

My companion and I rolled up at 7pm on a busy Saturday evening without booking and aware of the fact we were at risk of being turned away.

We were greeted warmly, however, and warned that it might take 30 minutes to get us seated at a table. We agreed that that would be OK and ordered a pint of beer and a glass of dry white wine from the bar while browsing the menu.

But they kept us waiting only 15 minutes before showing us to a table. Impressive.

The extensive menu was typical of many Indian restaurants, and included some mouth-watering and luxuriously priced main courses, such as Chicken Monsoor -- sliced chicken tikka with garlic and fresh onions, chillies and aromatic spices with pilau rice (£9.95). Another was Fish Johol -- fried fish, stir fried in onions, tomato and spices (£9.95).

Despite these tempting dishes we plumped for the better value set meal for two, which came in at £29.95. Included were Pappadoms (one each), Shish Kebabs, and Onion Bhajis for starters.

For the main course we had a Chicken Tikka Massalla, a Lamb Rogan Josh, with a Vegetable Bhaji, served with Mushroom Rice.

This was to be followed by coffee and a sweet, which in our case, turned out to be vanilla ice-cream.

The Pappadoms were as they usually are -- an ideal start to the meal and the other starters were excellent.

In these situations there is always the fear that there will not be enough room to do the main course justice.

We had no difficulty, however, because both dishes were excellent. I concentrated on the Lamb Rogan Josh, while my companion tucked into the Tikka Massalla with enthusiasm.

Once again these dishes were excellent, with the service swift, courteous and efficient.

By the time we had polished off as much of these dishes as possible, we had little room for anything other than ice-cream which was gratefully received.

Our meal went down nicely with half a litre of French house red wine at £5.95.

The total bill, including drinks at the bar came to £40.05, which I thought was very reasonable.

India Gate is an extremely pleasant environment in which to eat. Do not, however, go there expecting a quaint family-run Indian restaurant. It is part of a chain of successful Indian restaurants and the ambience in this eatery -- without wanting to be critical -- reflects this.

But the interior decor and design has been impressively finished off, and judging from the booming trade on the night in question it is already doing very well.

Access to this restaurant would be very easy for a disabled person -- it is mainly on one level. When we arrived it was also nice to see a family with young children near our table enjoying their evening.

The adjacent car park is ample, although the kerbing on the way in seems a little nonsensical, but this is a minor point.

If you are planning a visit, I would advise you to book. This justifiably is already a very popular establishment.

HOW TO GET THERE

From Bolton head towards Westhoughton on the A58 (Wigan Road). Turn right at the Chequerbent roundabout on to the A6 and continue until you see the India Gate sign on the right.

STAR RATING

Quality of food...****

Menu...****

Service...****

Value for money...****

Atmosphere...****

Overall rating...****

Nick Jackson