THE Moll’s mood was darker than a demon's heart.

I was starting to think there might be no way back to Happy Valley when I remembered a new eaterie in town that I hoped could put a smile back on her kisser.

We headed to downtown Great Western Road to check out the newest kid on the block, Crossing the Rubicon, which my sources told me specialises in craft beer, curry and casual dining.

Before I stuck the stick shift into reverse to park the Buick, I had some detective work on my hands to suss out the name of the joint.

According to those smart folks at Wikipedia, it means to pass a point of no return.

I’d definitely reached that point with Toots.

Turns out it’s a reference to Julius Caesar’s army’s crossing of the Rubicon River (in the north of Italy) in 49 BC, which was considered a declaration of war upon the Roman Senate.

She was in no mood for waiting but she started to brighten up as we headed in and were quickly shown to a booth.

The building has housed a number of bars and restaurants over the past few years but I’d heard there was a good buzz around the latest tenant.

Casing the joint, it was bright and colourful with safari-inspired murals and fearsome looking elephants and the tables were filling up fast. I requested some poppadoms and spiced onions to quell the Moll’s ravenous appetite as we checked out the goods on the menu while supping a couple of craft ales.

I was pleased to see how reasonably priced it was, around £5-£6 for every dish and there was plenty of choice for carnivores and plant eaters.

Suddenly the Moll let out a blood-curdling scream. “What now?” I groaned as all heads turned, and perhaps a few stomachs.

“My tongue it hotter than a witch’s cauldron,” she squeaked.

Turned out she gobbled up a red chilli, in the poppadom dip. She started gulping down mouthfuls of water before a kind gal let us into a tip that’s it better to quoff white wine to cool down the palate. Something to do with the sugar, she explained.

Blondie needed no excuse to chug back the white stuff and was soon onto her second glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

We decided to share a starter of veggie haggis pakora which came with a spicy tomato dip. Not wanting a repeat of Toot’s unfortunate experience I order up a cooler version and the service is swift.

I later found out we hadn’t checked out the helpfully coloured dots next to dishes to indicate how they rate on the hot-ometer.

For mains, I decided on the Crispy Tofu Mutter, a pea and cumin curry which is mild and flavoursome and perfect with a buttery Chapati.

The Moll plumped for the Tandoori Butter Chicken - marinated chicken cooked in a tandoor with tomato and butter masala accompanied by Basmati Rice and gobbles up every mouthful.

We had enough space to try out a couple of the desserts on offer.

The Creme Brulee hit the spot but was a little heavy on the custard and the Indian ice cream was so sweet that Toots said she was in danger of losing her faux-gold tooth.

Food - ***

Service - ***

Atmosphere - ***

Starters

Poppadoms and pickles - £2.50

Haggis Pakora to share - £4.95

Mains

Tofu Mutter - £5.50

Butter chicken - £5.95

Desserts

Indian Kulfi ice-cream - £4.95

Creme Brulee - £4.95

Drinks

Two glasses of white wine - £8.85

1 half pint of Birds Bees craft beer - £1.95

Crossing the Rubicon, 72 Great Western Road, www.crossingtherubicon.com