This was a meal of extreme contrasts. The food was fantastic, but the standard of service was poor. My wife, Gaby, and I arrived at the Shima in high spirits after the Village Green Festival, in Chalkwell Park, at around 8pm on Saturday.

Our joi de vivre was immediately tested, as no one took our drinks order for about 25 minutes and we eventually had to call a waiter over. He asked us if we wanted popadoms, but forgot to bring them out, and our food order was not taken for about 40 minutes.

We probably received our starters after an hour. I had grilled salmon tikka, which was expertly spiced, just salty and firey enough to whet the appetite.

Gaby opted for paneer fry, which was cubes of marinated cheese, lightly toasted, then fried with onions and peppers. The dish was tasty, nicely presented and came in a generous portion.

For my main course I opted for king prawn jalfrezi, one of the more expensive items on the menu, which tasted fresh, zesty and spicy.

My wife opted for prawn dhansak, which was sweet, sour, and scrumptious. We were both again impressed with the portions.

We liked the contemporary decor too and a flat screen TV, which showed scenes from Bollywood films throughout with the volume off, made us smile and was not too distracting.

After all that food, we only opted for a simple dessert, which was slices of mango in cream. The mango tasted fresh and contrasted perfectly with all the zingy, spicy sensations still firing my tastebuds from the opening courses.

Unfortunately, we had to ask for the bill four times, which summed up the service. We were admittedly part of a group of six people, but the three hours it took for us all to be served our dinners was way too long.

Aftewards, we agreed the food was impressive, but the service was so underwhelming.

THE BILL

Paneer fry £4.25 Grilled salmon tikka £5.45 King prawn jalfrezi £11.95 Prawn dhansak £7.55 Pilau rice £2.45 Plain boiled rice £2.25

THE VERDICT (out of five)

Atmosphere 3 Food 4 Decor 4 Value 3 Service 2