I had heard good things about the Indian restaurant, Cocum, in Boscombe, so my expectations were high from the moment I stepped through the door.

For starter my guest Miriam and I shared popadoms with a delicious mix of pickles and chutneys – a standard starter in most Indian restaurants, but these were slightly different. As well as the usual mango chutney and yoghurt dips there were meat, fish and vegetable options.

We also shared a dish called Konchu Porichathu, which consisted of battered black tiger prawns seasoned with spices and marinated in ginger, garlic and black pepper – a very different but mouth-wateringly tasty option from an Indian restaurant that seems to pride itself on having a variety of different traditional south Indian dishes.

For her main dish Miriam chose Mango Pulissery, a mild korma style curry with a mango, green banana, garlic and ginger sauce. It was a little too mild and sweet for my tastes but she enjoyed it immensely.

I opted for a meatier and hotter option, but it was still only medium spiced and suitable for most curry eaters.

The Chicken Calicut was spiced with garlic, blanched tomato, onion, green chilli, fennel and capsicum, and finished with roasted masala. The best way to describe the dish is that it was like a Chicken Dopiaza, but with so much more going on in terms of spices and flavours – a very tasty dish.

To accompany our main dishes we had a portion of coconut rice, which went very well with the Mango Pulissery I’m told, and a pilau rice, as well as two chapathys; a pancake style flat bread perfect for mopping up any leftover sauce.

The overall feeling as we left the restaurant was one of satisfaction. We were both full, but not uncomfortably so, and had enjoyed our meals.

The menu at Cocum is certainly something different to those of most Indian restaurants and it was nice not to be looking down a list of the usual standard dishes offered. As they say, variety is the spice of life.

All the food we had was very reasonably priced and we washed it down with a couple of ice cold Kingfishers, but as with all Indian restaurants, Cobra was available on tap too.

I will definitely be going back to Cocum on Boscombe high street and may even give their internet delivery service a try, as explained to me by a very helpful and enthusiastic waiter.