When I first moved back to Southsea in 1999, the India Arms was about two minutes' walk from where I lived but I never visited it because my sons went there and it definitely had a reputation as a student pub. On moving back to Southsea again in 2007, I was surprised to learn that the largest room in the pub had been converted into an Indian restaurant called the Tiffin Room which was fast earning a reputation for serving the best Indian cuisine in either Portsmouth or Southsea.

The Tiffin Room had initially served tapas-style meals, whereby you would order a number of small dishes and probably share them amongst yourselves. By the time of my first visit in late summer, however, all this had changed and the menu was organised in the traditional format of starter, main course and dessert. I remember choosing Old Madras lamb chops, unusual for me as I am not a great fan of red meat, but they were absolutely delicious.

My second visit to the Tiffin Room came eight months later, at 7.30 one Saturday evening. My son and his partner had been there several times during the winter, always without a reservation, but as we entered we realised that it was a very busy evening. The waiter explained that the restaurant was in fact full booked, apparently by a large party of priests and nuns who were intending to burst into song after their meal. (They didn't look like priests and nuns not a habit in sight but he may not have been familiar with our various religious denominations, so let's not hold it against him.) Standing in the front area of the pub, we saw that one couple was already seated at a table laid for dinner there, and we were told that we were very welcome to sit and eat at another such table in the pub if we liked. There seemed no reason not to, so we chose a round table; a tablecloth, napkins and place settings were soon brought, followed by menus.

People kept arriving, and not long afterwards there was a party of seven installed at a long table next to us and other smaller groups at tables similar to our own. It obviously has become a very popular place. The waiter asked if we would like poppadoms and home-made chutney but oddly didn't ask about drinks. The service does tend to be a little scatty here, but they were obviously run off their feet on this particular occasion.

We decided that we would order three different main courses but share them between us so that we could taste a variety of their dishes. The Tiffin Room specialises in southern

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