Ruthvika, North Ferriby: Our reviewer is disappointed after visiting new curry house in 'posh' Yorkshire village

But, weirdly, of the band of posh villages skirting the city (including Swanland, Kirkella, Willerby and – to an extent – Hessle), only North Ferriby has a decent-sized restaurant space. For many years it was the hugely popular Italian/ Mediterranean offering Medici, but now it’s a posh Indian called Ruthvika. Or – to give it the full title on the website – Ruthvika Spices Kitchen.

Ruthvika is the new enterprise from Mukesh Tirkoti, who managed Hull’s first upmarket curry house - Tapasya - and has now re-emerged as owner in his own right. The vibe and the food is very similar to Tapasya, the chef has followed him from Tapasya.

The well-heeled surrounding his new restaurant will undoubtedly flood to the place. All he has to do is not mess up and success should swiftly follow. Sadly, based on the experience me and a pal had last Saturday night, success is far from guaranteed.

Firstly, the things about Ruthvika that are right.

The décor is very good. Vaguely opulent, cosy and intimate despite basically being one large dining room. Tick.

The menu is very attractive. Loads of stuff you fancy but not so many options you feel either overwhelmed or that the kitchen will be cutting corners. Two ticks.

The final tick goes to appetiser shahi lamb galouti kebab, which is a pair of lamb patties served with bone marrow jus, a dollop of mint yogurt and a paratha. It’s fantastic. Simple, satisfying and delicious. I just wish we’d ordered it for every course.

I should say now that our visit came just a few days after Ruthvika opened their doors. Some may argue that I should cut them some slack as they will still have been finding their feet.

My opinion, though, is that they’ve had months to get things right and the money of the first people through the door is just as good as the money of those that visit post-teething and I would be failing in my duty if I didn’t report accurately.

Things started badly when the beers we wanted from the very intriguing drinks menu (rarely seen Barcelona-brewed Estrella Inedit and an Argentinian lager we’d never heard of) were not available. We were offered bland curry house staple Cobra (direct from exotic Burton Upon Trent) as substitute.

Next came the traditional poppadom and pickle tray.

Always a winner. Except the pickles supplied were an unremarkable mango chutney and an utterly taste-free yogurt. I’d also asked for the homemade carrot and chilli pickle. This arrived and constituted a strange fibrous material mixed with a plasticky carapace thing. Impossible to either identify or eat.

When questioned, the waiter said that it was the carrot pickle, then that it was lime pickle (which it absolutely wasn’t) and finally offered ‘that’s how it’s served’. To add insult to injury, the poppadoms were those mini versions like those you get in the supermarket crisp aisle.

I’m not naïve enough to think that every Indian restaurant makes their own poppadoms but I’m fairly sure they don’t just empty a bag onto a plate.

The excellent lamb patties aside, starters of mackerel and mango ceviche and agra gully ki aloo tikki (more patties, made with potato and edamame) passed without unduly bothering our taste buds. We were also gifted a plate of lamb mince skewers which we hadn’t ordered.

Any hope that mains would improve things were dashed when my hitran ka shikhar (roast venison with celeriac puree, pumpkin khichadi and pickled red cabbage) proved to be great looking but dull. The meat was pleasant enough but there was nothing on the plate that danced on the tongue. .

The tandoori ghee roast spatchcock opposite was pretty awful.

It looked bad (consensus was that it was served upside-down) and came with an incredibly salty mint dip and flaccid potato wedges that were advertised as masala chips. It was the worst dish of the night.

We had dessert principally to try and rescue the evening.

‘Pouched’ (I think they mean poached) seasonal fruits turned out to be some mango cubes in a cardamon syrup with a single diced strawberry and one blueberry. They even forgot the strawberry ice cream boasted on the menu. The trio of kulfi opposite was better but a mid-dish spoonful unveiled a worrying shard of very sharp plastic that looked like it had broken off the tub.

By this stage, we had been questioning or returning so many dishes that pointing out small spears of sharpe material in the food felt not so much like we were trying to inform the kitchen of a public safety concern than we were Trip Advisor ‘reviewers’ trying to wangle a free meal. The waiter showed the same indifference to our warnings as he had to every other complaint we’d made all night.

I wanted to like Ruthvika and I feel professionally mandated to point out that maybe they just had an off night.

So much was wrong, however, and so many things were bland or bad, I can’t help but think that things just ain’t right.

Maybe you can’t expect a brand-new restaurant to be immediately firing on all cylinders, but it would’ve been nice if they’d fired on at least one.

Ruthvika 2 High St, North Ferriby, HU14 www.ruthvikadine.co.uk

Welcome 3/5

Food 2/5

Atmosphere 3/5

Prices 3/5