My household, and Iʼm sure most of Witham, have seen the truth. We follow the rules and devote Thursday night to curry night. Whilst there are a number of establishments offering Indian food, we chose to dine at Indian Ocean.

After making a reservation and securing a table, we were warmly welcomed by one of the waiters who swiftly sat us and offered us the drinks menu. Our group of four munched through the optional papadums with a selection of chutneys and dips, and each of us began to study the menu.

The vast selection of dishes and descriptions certainly helped us to be creative and opt for some of the less well-known Indian delicacies. We decided to forego the starters and head straight for the main courses of khyberi chicken and lamb korai, and some well-known favourites including chicken korma and chicken rogan josh. To accompany our mains we ordered pilau and steamed rice, a garlic naan and onion bhajis. For a Thursday night, with other competitive dining offers along the high street, Indian Ocean began to fill with a throng of diners.

Not long after ordering our meal, a well-stocked trolley with sizzling dishes arrived at our table. We were presented with our food, the waiter happily recapping the dishes we had ordered and giving us warm plates (something which I like in a restaurant). We soon began to juggle plates, bowls and glasses on our table as we realised we had either ordered too much or the tables were smaller than required!

Once settled we spooned a taster of each of the curries onto our plates. The dishes certainly looked appetising and smelled amazing. The aromas and spices wafting from the plates certainly made us all want to tuck in.

For a short while conversation ceased as we were all-consumed by the Indian delights. We soon began discussing our favourite dishes and most opted for the bold flavours, but not too spicy, of the lamb korai. The onion bhaji was full of flavour and not too greasy and the rice was fluffy and steaming.

The guys soon finished their piled plates of food and went back for seconds, eager to finish off the remainder of the curries, still warm due to the plate warmers placed along the table.

Once the dishes had been cleared and the top tablecloth taken away, we were promptly offered hot towels...another favourite of mine!

We decided to complete our meal with an after dinner drink. Baileys served short over ice for the ladies and a whiskey for the men seemed to do the trick.

We relaxed with our drinks and soon the time came to ask for the bill. We noted a sign on the wall offering student discount, and as one of our party is a student this entitled us to 15% off, a real bonus! After saying our goodbyes to the friendly waiters we left Indian Ocean happily full, slightly merry, having had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.