In pursuit of the best curry in Beverley...Rumi's review

Since our travels to India last year, we've been missing the amazing food and have been obsessed with finding authentic southern Indian food, so when we were invited down to Rumi's in Beverley just before Christmas to try a different kind of festive meal, we were hoping for some different dishes to the usual fayre.

We discovered the restaurant has won awards for their signature dishes, which have an almost gourmet element to them. The chef has clearly given thought to different flavour combinations and things to pique the imagination.

We arrived early Saturday evening, as, with a young baby, we are now officially those people taking the early bird special! Beverley was in full Christmas swing, with the lights twinkling away above the skyline, and we were excited to get into the festive spirit and have a grown up night out.

The restaurant wasn't overly obvious from the outside, as it's above a kitchen retailer, but the building is nicely modernised and once we were inside Rumi's, we were shown to a table overlooking the beautiful St Mary's church, which was glowing with golden lights shining along the stone walls.

The restaurant was half full but the phone was ringing off the hook with takeaway orders and the staff dashed back and forth with brown paper bags, making their way out of the kitchen and into the delivery drivers hands.

Our drinks order was taken and we set to work looking through the menu. It is not overwhelmingly extensive but has enough to keep you changing your mind and we liked the Rumi's specialities section. These are the chef's special dishes and are different to the usual Bhunas and Kormas.

You'll find Yorkshire beef, alongside Buffalo with Bangladeshi wild oranges, as a nod to buying local but with an authentic Indian bias. The menu felt very personal with little footnotes such as 'my father's favourite recipe'  or the geographic region it was from.

We were starving (what's new there?) and so ordered starters to whet our appetite. I ordered the onion bhaji and the Carnivore went for the mixed tandoori.

For our main course, I had a Herbivore hankering for some paneer, which is an Indian cheese, but couldn't see anything on the main menu. I asked the waitress who ventured off into the kitchen to ask the chef and reappeared minutes later asking me what I wanted and they would make it for me. They did have an extensive vegetarian menu to choose from but I liked the look of the Makni Tandoori, which is usually a buttery, creamy chicken dish and asked if they could replace this with paneer - job done! The Carnivore went for the Mishrit, cod, prawn and crab curry.

Due to the takeout orders coming in thick and fast, we were told there was a wait in the kitchen and they didn't know when it would be cleared, so they brought us a pickle tray to go on with. We appreciated the honesty but decided that in future, we would probably avoid the 6pm rush of takeaway orders and go a little later.

The whole of one side of the restaurant is glazed so we could people watch to our hearts content, as people came and went from the town's busy bus station. High above the skyline, the silhouette of St Mary's decoy bird swooped and swirled to scare away the pigeons.

After a bit of a wait, we enquired to when we might get our food and were told they could get the starters out but we were still waiting on the main.

The bhaji was lovely and full of fresh flavours and the Carnivore was very happy with his mixed tandoori. We settled in after expecting a further wait on our main courses but they were brought out quite soon after.

The portions are decent and we were glad we only ordered one mushroom rice to share. However, we did go for two naan breads - garlic and peshwari - which were yummy. My adapted Makni tandoori looked creamy and smelled delicious and when I tucked in I found it had plenty of paneer, which made me deliriously happy. What can I say? I love cheese.

The Carnivore's fish curry had plenty of seafood and had a good kick of chilli to it - possibly because he asked for it hot and they took him at his word. He was impressed by it but was also glad he had some of my creamy curry to take the heat out of it.

We were both completely stuffed part way through and couldn't finish all of the naan bread and rice, which is not like us and testament to the portion sizes. After finishing off our drinks, we bade our goodbyes and made our way into the night.

Needing a walk to relieve our full tummies, we meandered arm in arm through the town to look at the Christmas lights, Doesn't everything always look more majestic at Christmas? Beverley especially looks gorgeous all lit up and with a dazzling tree in the middle of the market cross.

We happened across Bartipi on our travels and stopped in for a warming mulled wine to toast the evening. We warmed ourselves by the fire pit but we weren't the only ones appreciating it, as humans and pooches alike relaxed in its glow.

We love a good curry and will happily continue to work our way around the area reliving our travels around India. Where do you go for a taste of India?

Our meal was gifted but all opinions are honest and our own