It's a sign of our evolving culture that empty churches have been converted into apartments and many pubs now house Indian restaurants.

The smoking ban and cheap supermarket beer are just two of the reasons why British pubs are still closing at the rate of 31 a week, a slowdown from six years ago when it was 52 a week.

Depressing though this might be for lovers of the amber (and auburn) nectar, there are still plenty of good alehouses around Huddersfield – and every cloud has a silver lining.

The solid stone exteriors and large interior rooms of the traditional pub have spawned a throng of popular Indian eateries: think Laxmi, the Pink Elephants, Mumbai Spice, Aagrah, Thaal and Flouch Balti House, to name but a few.

Three years ago Balooshai – then housed under the arches in Huddersfield town centre – opened a second restaurant in the former Coach and Horses at Honley.

The Viaduct Street premises are now gone, and the Eastgate eatery flies the flag for the Balooshai name. It has returned to within a few hundred yards of the Old Silk Mill, where it started a couple of decades ago before the explosion in popularity of Asian restaurants.

These days the competition between curry houses has literally hotted up, with diners taking their pick of more than 50 in Huddersfield and surrounding villages.

Balooshai Honley has retained the pub-like interior with wooden floors and traditional wooden tables, although the high-backed upholstered chairs are much more plush and comfortable than those they replaced.

The four of us were seated at a table under a large print of an elephant’s eye. Above the diners at the table opposite was a large close-up of the pachyderm’s rear end.

The colourful canvas prints did, however, add a splash of colour and a hint of the Orient to the Western interior.

The young man serving us had difficulty taking our beer order, which we patiently repeated. He apologised, this was his first night, but overall we found the service from all to be perfunctory and lacking in friendliness or charm.

The menu is extensive, with over 30 main dishes and a couple of dozen starters to choose from, including “sexy mushroom masala” and five other vegetarian options.

Two of us chose the combo starter, good value for money at £4.50, with chicken satay, seekh kebab and what was described as vegetable pakora, but actually came as onion bhaji, slightly burnt at the edges.

Balooshai, Honley, restaurant review. chicken pakora

We couldn’t distinguish the peanut flavour in the satay, but rather an unexpected hint of aniseed. The seekh kebab was full bodied, with a kick like a friendly mule. The vegetable samosas and chicken pakora were competent enough but didn’t really tickle our tastebuds in anticipation of the next course.

For mains I’m afraid we got stuck in a chicken rut, ordering chicken dopiaza, pistachio chicken korma and chicken jalfrezi, along with a side of tarka dahl.

The sauces were rich and creamy, but individual flavours were hard to find.

The pistachio and coconut were elusive in the cream of the chicken korma – a dish to die for in Viaduct Street.

On the plus side the dopiaza, probably the pick of the dishes, truly sizzled in its rich and flavourful sauce of tomatoes and onion.

I ate more than once at Balooshai under the arches and found to food to be fresh and creative.

We had been hoping for something similar here, but were slightly disappointed as we couldn’t really pinpoint anything that was unique or particularly creative.

31a Eastgate, Honley, HD9 6PA

Tel: 01484 667592/664455

Website: http://balooshaihuddersfield.co.uk

Opening hours: Opening hours Monday to Thursday 5.30pm to 10.30pm, Friday and

Saturday 5pm to 11pm, Sunday 2.30pm to 9pm

Children: Welcome

Disabled access: Yes, but call first to make arrangements

The bill: £57.50 for four including drinks

Would you go back? Maybe