Star rating: *** Each Monday, a fisherman from Grimsby drives to the home of my friend’s mom, Mrs Patel. He takes with him fish landed that morning to sell to local residents.

Mrs Patel is always first in the queue, making sure she gets the freshest and best fish on offer. Whenever it’s available, she buys crab. The same morning, she transforms the succulent crustacea into an extraordinarily good curry in the kitchen of her home.

Mrs Patel’s curry is the stuff of dream and fable. A few weeks ago, my wife and I were fortunate enough to sample it. We were transported to a gastronomic Gujarati nirvana.

The viscous, spicy sauce had a depth and intensity of flavour that you simply don’t get at local curry houses, much less in supermarket-sold jars of sauce. It was like contrasting a 28-day hung Herefordshire sirloin steak from a specialist rare-breed butcher in Ludlow with a cheap scrag end of beef from Dodgy Dave’s mobile market. Mrs Patel, we salute you.

Having sampled Mrs Patel’s curry, however, we entered The Third Place, at Frankwell, in Shrewsbury, with a measure of trepidation. We anticipated an after-the-lord-mayor’s-show sort of dinner. It could not possibly live up to the crab, we thought.

The Third Place is one of Shropshire’s better-known curry houses. It is an habitual entree into all manner of competitions and usually it fares well. Though, as one might expect with its name, it tends to be the bridesmaid, rather than the bride, securing commendations rather than overall firsts.

The Third Place accommodates between 30 and 40 customers and there’s a cafeteria ambience inside. It’s not yet been visited by star-studded interior designers, so it can seem somewhat down at heel. Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen would foppishly shake his dandy head in disgust at the lack of pizzazz. But that only adds to its appeal.

There are plenty of local curry houses with chocolate-coloured walls, halogen spotlights and all manner of supposedly-groovy touches. The Third has no airs and graces, is resolutely unpretentious and the easy-come, easy-go attitude of its customers gives it the air of a prep room or college common room.

It’s rather like Ludlow’s Japanese bistro, Koo, which also has a refectory-style dining room. Food is served quickly, tables are turned to provide space for more guests and there’s always a buzz inside.

With the construction of Shrewsbury’s glorious new theatre directly opposite, The Third can look forward to a boom time. While other restaurants stutter during the credit crunch, the low prices, generous portions, great service and good location will help it to grow. It’s part of an increasingly cosmopolitan riverside quarter of Shrewsbury that also features a great cocktail lounge, Frank’s, a delightful bistro at The Armoury and a cracking pub The Boathouse.

The architects of Shrewsbury’s new theatre couldn’t have wished for a more fitting location. Rather like Birmingham’s canalside Broad Street, though on a smaller scale, it has the best that the town has to offer.

The Third was one of the final legs in our mildly ridiculous tour of Shrewsbury curry houses. We’ve now sampled almost everything that the town has to offer and we were pleasingly impressed by it. In terms of both food and service, it is comfortably among the town’s top three.

We visited on an evening when we expected the restaurant to have few customers. However, it was almost full, such is the affection in which the eaterie is held. When the new theatre opens in a few months from now, there’ll probably be queues into the street.

We were shown to our table by an efficient and polite waiter who brought us drinks and provided a menu for us to peruse. The Third has a good menu with plenty of traditional curry dishes, including madras, dupiaza, bhuna, rogan josh, pathia, balti, biryani, korai, korma, malayan, dansak and more. There is also a modest array of chef’s specialities as well as the obligatory kebab, bhajee, chat, samosa, tikka and poppadums to start. And for those with gargantuan appetites, there is an impressive array of vegetable sides, including bombay aloo, sag bhajee, panir, tarka dall, sag aloo, bindi bhajee and cauliflower dishes.

There’s also a rather cunning combination menu, for people who’d like to sample more than one dish. For a none-too-punitive £6.95, guests can order two sample dishes of different curry, like a jalfrezi and sagwala, a korai and a pathia or a massala and a bhuna.

I selected the chicken tikka pathia, which was outrageously hot and sour. The Third’s experienced chef showed that he was not afraid to ramp up the taste and the dish was intensely flavoured. The tomato, lemon juice, herbs and spices produced a riot of tastes. It was delicious. My wife selected an altogether more sedate chicken passanda, which was delightfully creamy and mild.

The accompanying pilau rice was fine while the fresh, homemade naan were light and fluffy, light giant bread pillows. Our waiters visited the table frequently to ensure the food was up to scratch. They refilled our glasses, brought additional drinks and were attentive to the nth degree.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening at The Third Place. I’d rank it as second, or possibly third, among the local curry houses that we’ve visited. The food is good, but not outstanding. The chef’s restraint would increase the subtlety of his dishes. The service is better than average for a low-cost restaurant where the dishes tend to cost between £4 and £6. The prices and portions are low and generous respectively and the atmosphere is a treat.

Of course, it didn’t quite measure up to Mrs Patel’s sublime crab curry. But it wasn’t far off. The Third comes highly recommended.

contact details

The Third Place, Frankwell, Shrewsbury.

Tel: 01743 272041/272042

MENU SAMPLE

Starters

Tandoori duck (£2.95)

Tandoori chicken (£2.40)

Boti kebab (£2.95)

Main courses

Tandoori duck massala (£5.50)

Chicken passanda (£5.50)

Jinga massala (£7.95)

Sides

Bombay aloo (£2.30)

Motor panir (£2.30)

Mushroom bhajee (£2.30)

Pilau rice (£1.40)

ATMOSPHERE

We visited on a very quiet night. But, we were

assured, things are much more lively at weekends

SERVICE

Polite, enthusiastic. Generally good.

DISABLED FACILITIES

Staff assist. Access can be tricky with steps into the restaurant.

smoking policy

Join the queue outside