WHEN you have dined in one Indian restaurant, you've dined in them all: right? Wrong. This is certainly not the case when you pay a visit to the Bina Tandoori in High Street, Northwood.

Being greeted by Martin, the singing waiter, is enough to make you realise this is not your run-of-the-mill Indian restaurant. Martin doesn't sing only on your arrival and departure. Oh, no. He sings when he brings you your dishes, pours your drinks and even made my request for a tissue into a little ditty.

But Martin isn't the only reason why you should pay a visit to Bina: the food is well worth it too. I live fairly close to the restaurant, and I am ashamed to say that this was my first visit. But it certainly won't be my last. The restaurant was revamped in 2001 and the decor, predominately orange and blue with murals on the walls, is tasteful and adds to the calming atmosphere of Bina.

The menu features a wide variety of starters, such as duck tikka; chicken chatt, and vegetable somosa, and an impressive number of main dishes, including tandoori king prawns; chicken tikka special; tandori king prawn massala, and the usual chicken, lamb and seafood dishes. The restaurant also has a section of the menu that serves newcomers to Indian cuisine.

Award-winning chef Rezaul Karim had prepared a menu for my dining partner and I and his choices were exceptional. To start, we were enticed with puri path (liver) and chicken patie. The meat in each was tender, not overcooked, and the hot and spicy sauce that accompanied the dishes is a must to appreciate the flavours.

When manager Jay Miah started to rearrange our table to make way for the main dishes, my dining partner's comment of "I think we are about to have a banquet", couldn't have been more accurate.

We were treated to butter chicken, a mild, creamy dish; duck tikka jalfresi, a spicier dish, and vegetable dishes of potato and chick peas, and mushrooms, which helped balance out the main meat dishes. To accompany our meal, we had pilau rice, special fried rice and, a novelty for us, peshwari nan, a bread with coconut that was an unusual combination of sweet and savoury, with the two tastes complementing each other.

But the supreme dish had to be the garlic king prawn. Being the most expensive thing on the menu, it had a lot to live up to and it surpassed all expectations. The prawns were just delicious and there was a hint of garlic which wasn't overpowering, which can so often be the case with some garlic-based dishes. No wonder Rezaul has won awards.

Bina is open seven days a week from noon until 2.30pm, and from 6pm until 11.30pm. A takeaway service is available. - VL

Bina Tandoori, High Street, Northwood

Telephone 01923 823412

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, exclusive guides to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295)

December 19, 2001 14:00