Naturally ambitious eaters, we met our match with Samrat's five-page menu, daily specials and a drinks list that caters equally well to beer, wine and cocktail drinkers. The 24 curries divided among chicken, seafood and mutton varieties, plus a page of vegetarian choices and another page of appetizers made it near impossible for us to know where to start. The night's agenda was left to our more decisive dining companion, an ex-Bahrain resident.

Not wanting to fill up on the traditional beverage of beer, we opted instead for water. We also ordered what was, in the end, far too much food, but with the prawn pakora (¥980) as an appetizer we were unsure about portion sizes. Three rather small deep-fried prawns arrived without much fanfare.

The wait was worth it. The nan, thick and glossy with butter, was falling off the large plate that tried to contain its mass. We dipped first into the butter chicken curry (¥1,300), which was clearly more butter than gravy and had us polishing the bowl with a few more tears into the nan. We attacked the equally creamy butter prawn curry (¥1,300) with the same desire. But after the relatively mild dishes, we were ready for the mutton saagwala (¥1,250), a traditional curry of mutton, spinach and spices that had our sinuses running. An order of raita (¥500), yogurt mixed with cucumber, ginger and potatoes, helped curb the heat. The cooling mixture was also needed to get through the aloo gobi (¥1,300), mainly potatoes and cauliflower in a spiced gravy mixture, which put fresh sweat droplets on our brows.

There were a scant four choices for dessert, and we would have loved to try the mango pudding (¥600) if only our diaphragms weren't so stressed. Our eyelids heavy with sleep, we were thankful that Samrat was insightful enough to put this branch just steps from JR's east exit. The restaurant bills itself as serving "slow food," which could be a reference to the slow feeling you'll have after dining here, but is certainly something fast-moving Tokyoites should indulge in more often.