The Blue Elephant: George Street, Aberdeen

WITH football, my natural enemy, on in every pub in the city – but still desperate not to cook – I turned to the comfort of a curry menu.

The south Bengal special lamb (£6.95) was a real surprise. Usually a vindaloo man, I loved this sauce’s hefty kick. But rather than mouth-searing chilli heat, it came as a back-of-the-nose hit similar to mustard or wasabi. And the complex but subtle flavours had a hint of the yellow stuff about them too.

The missus, on a vegetarian kick of late, went for a main-meal portion of saag aloo (£5.25). Sometimes the dish can look like a slimy, swampy mess. But this was fabulously fresh, fragrant and dry, if a little salty.

With a huge portion of light, crispy pakura (£2.50) that seemed to have double the amount of veg as usual, and a huge chapatti (£1.00) the only disappointment was a tasty but slightly deflated garlic naan (£2.50).

You know, my self-imposed exile from pubs during the footie season wouldn’t be so bad if all takeaways were like this...