It was more or less inevitable that Indian cuisine should pick up on tapas - after all what is Mumbai street food but a form of tapas? At Imli, run by the same team that operates Tamarind, a more homely, less formal version of Indian food is the vogue. Its other major virtue is that a wider choice of tastes and flavours is immediately available, either hot or cold. Whatever you have ordered is brought to your table in one fell swoop, and courses as such cease to exist.

Generally three items per head are reckoned to be the equivalent of a two course meal, but the choice is entirely yours. Many order crispy papadums and home made chutney to keep the pangs at bay as they work though the menu making their selections. Quite obviously this is tremendous fun with a party, giving ample opportunity for self expression.

Amongst the cold choices look for papdi chaat, whole wheat crisps and bean sprouts with vermicelli, sweet yoghurt and mint chutney, or grilled paneer and broccoli marinated with pickling spices, cream cheese and cooked to perfection. Moving on to the hot, a delightful experience is samosa chaat, vegetable samosa topped with chickpeas, yoghurt, tamarind and mint chutneys, and spicy chicken satay, chicken marinated in house blend of spices, served with salad and beetroot chutney.

Probably, the truth is that Indian food presented as tapas is one of the ultimates in comfort food, a sort of exercise in grasshopper grazing, no experience lasting too long but always repeatable if the call comes. India's great stretches of coast with accessibility to vast swathes of ocean mean that seafood is always going to be popular. The likes of minced lamb with potatoes and garden peas cooked with ginger, tomato and cumin and served with toasted bread are but a foretaste.

For childhood memories of friends home from India, are of people who seemed to talk incessantly of eating vegetables and chickens, though one must concede that Indian chefs make a wonderful job of cooking both, so chicken tikka masala, chicken cooked with dried herbs, creamed tomatoes and cashew nuts, and for vegetarians, matar paneer, Indian cottage cheese cooked with fresh garden peas, or Bombay aloo potatoes tossed with onion, cumin, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves should most certainly not be lightly ignored.

In almost any cuisine on earth there comes a point where new dishes are introduced by the chef with an international twist. People interested in trying new and exciting fare, should try crisp fried squid in spicy batter with lime or Amritsari fish, batter fried fish in Imli's special recipe with mint chutney. Those who may not always find new excursions to culinary world exciting can try the chicken biryani, chicken cooked with basmati rice and whole spices, served with cucumber raita. Excellent! But for the big one consider the tandoori lamb chops, lamb chops marinated with raw papaya, crushed peppercorn, green chilli and black cumin and grilled to perfection.

Desserts could include gulab jamun, milk dumplings served with fig and ginger ice cream, or carrot fudge made with carrots, melon seeds and raisins served with ice cream.

It is customary to find an Indian nouvelle restaurant with an ample list of exotic cocktails and Imli is no exception, served with enthusiasm and precision. The customary list of quality beers, spirits and fruit beverages is extended by a limited range of wines, several from south of the Equator.

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