If you're thinking about going out for a meal in north Kent, there's a fair chance you'll decide Bluewater is the place to go.

After all, it is one of the UK's biggest shopping centres and houses more than 60 restaurants under one roof.

But thinking outside the box we headed just two miles down the road to find a hidden gem, The British Raj in the village of Stone near Greenhithe.

When my husband and I first started dating almost 30 years ago, I earned myself the nickname 'Keely Curry' due to the number of dates we had in curry houses.

So it seemed fitting my first restaurant review on returning to work at KentOnline would be a curry.

The London Road eatery is not in the sort of location which lends itself to an influx of custom.

It isn't in a high street, although it is fairly close to two pubs, and it does not get much footfall.

This means its custom comes mainly from word of mouth. And people have clearly been talking, especially considering it has survived since 1988.

It was our first visit in a long time so a chance to look at its new decor, which left us mightily impressed.

It boasts the ambient surroundings you would hope to find in an Indian restaurant but don't often get.

This includes dimmed lighting and atmospheric decor with discreet black screens featuring carved elephants.

The room soon started to fill with a clientele of a certain age, which made us feel at ease.

We'd come out for a cosy date night and really didn't want to end up feeling like old fogies surrounded by the very youngsters we were when we first started courting.

Considering I just used the word 'courting' you might be able to quickly establish I am quite a traditionalist.

So when it came to looking at the menu in our chosen venue you can probably guess what my husband and I plumped for.

I perused the menu, for the purposes of the review, and it included such tempting delights as Bengal Flame for £9.95, a spicy hot dish of chicken or lamb with chilli sauce.

Neither of us are into having our ears blown off so we skipped past that.

One of the Chef's Specials was called Chilli Chicken Masala (£8.95), but again, was described as a hot dish.

My eyes briefly settled on Chicken Monuhor (£9.95). It sounded exotic and was expertly described as small cubes of chicken or lamb marinated, then grilled in the tandoori oven and served in a medium strength, thick sweet and sour sauce.

Decisons, decisions. And the waiters did not leave us ruminating for long – maybe they could tell the sort of customers we were.

When they asked what we would like, my adventurous ambitions went out the window as I opted for a King Prawn Passanda (£9.95).

At least I deviated a little from my old favourite, Chicken Korma.

My husband, being a typical Englishman in an Indian restaurant, ordered Chicken Tikka Massala (£8.95), pilau rice, onion bhajis and poppadoms.

I went for plain rice and a Peshwari nan. Another favourite. I had been planning to go for coconut rice but considering the price hiked from a modest £2.65 for plain rice up to a whopping £4.45 for the additional flavouring, I decided to give it a miss.

The nan also ranged sizeably in price from just £2.30 for a plain up to £4.55 for a British Raj nan. I wonder what was in that one?

The service was slow and steady. Not too slow that you were chewing the napkin but not too fast that you felt like you wee being rushed out ready for the next sitting.

First to arrive, very speedily, were the poppadoms, which were served in a beautiful wooden tray rather than the usual metal bowls.

It is little touches like this, diversions from the norm, that really appeal to me.

While my husband tucked in with abandon and assured me the sauces were delicious, I saved myself for the main course. I didn't want my genuine taste verdict to be hampered by feeling full.

For the purposes of the review, I requested a glass of the house rose. My favourite rose was only available by the bottle and it wasn't really that sort of an evening.

I am very fussy when it comes to wine. I like it sweet. The house wine was palatable and not too dry, but not sweet enough for my seasoned taste buds. Hubby was delighted, as rather than having to order Cobra, which is often the case in curry restaurants, he was able to enjoy a cold pint of Carlsberg.

The main course arrived after a suitable time-gap. We weren't quite salivating, but we were ready to dive in.

The waiter was polite but not overly friendly.

Having had hundreds of Chicken Tikka Massalas in his time, my husband was well-placed to offer his expert opinion on his favourite dish, which he delivered as "nice". He's an accountant, not a journalist.

Asked to embellish, he assured me it wasn't the best he'd had, but it wasn't the worst.

Having saved my appetite, I tucked into my new dish and absolutely loved it. The sauce was as thick, rich and creamy as it promised and full of almond flavour. The only downside was the lack of prawns. There were only about six and they were pretty small.

The slightly illuminous colour was also a little unnerving. We polished off our entire meal – a rare feat for me with a curry, a normal one for hubby, and I called the waiter over to ask for the dessert menu.

Regaling this story to others afterwards, I was apparently mislead and seemingly alone in my belief there would be a dessert in a curry house.

But I swear I have had it before. When I asked, however, the waiter did not even break step, or show a hint of remorse as he informed me there was none.

With the gentle pace of the service we were pleased our date had lasted longer than other meals out. A "nice" evening had my all.

"Asked to embellish, he assured me it wasn't the best he'd had, but it wasn't the worst."

Scores

Food: The meat was tender and the sauce was thick and tasty ****

Drink: My husband enjoyed his Carlsberg but the house rose was a little dry for me ***

Decor: The outside is not inviting at all but inside it has a very authentic Indian feel and the dimmed lighting gives it a relaxing feel *****

Staff: The staff were polite but seemed quite rushed ***

Price: The prices seemed about right for the portion sizes ****