I've had two truly splendid Indian meals in my life. Many exceptional ones certainly, umpteen visits to Bukhara, a great little Indian in Richmond, a couple of Durban curries that come with malevolent time-delay impact as standard, but only two I'd regard as truly great.

One was in Singapore, a six-course feast that almost killed me, a blaze of spice, flavour, heat and passion, all washed down with large volumes of beer for a comprehensive assault on the system.

The second was produced by a six-foot-four German named Magnus, a scientist who's absolutely convinced he's Indian, and as a result spends his free time watching Bollywood DVDs, trying to master the finer points of cricket (progress here is somewhat slow, I believe), and conjuring up magical Indian dishes.

I talked my way into one of his Indian dinners two summers ago: I don't have a clue what we ate, but every mouthful was sublime, a grand salute to the breadth of palate that the sub-continent hides behind the fierce veil of curry which holds off the lesser connoisseur.

Mild on the curry front

Which brings me to Karma, a restaurant which, as you'll have realised, didn't boost my duo of all-time Eastern greats into a spicy trio. Mention the restaurant to anyone in Johannesburg, and you'll get admiring whispers in return, all playing on the theme of 'coolness'; Karma, it would appear, is seriously cool, or has at least convinced the young, moneyed classes of Gauteng that it is, which probably amounts to the same thing.

And on first inspection, it does appear to be. Understated, low lighting, ripples of conversation drifting across the lightly Eastern interior…

India can be garish and over the top, as Bollywood or an Indian wedding will demonstrate, but paring it down works so much better for a restaurant and Karma's got that right.

And with a young, hip, smiling crowd — I vaguely recognised a dreadlocked bloke who lives somewhere in the darker recesses of DStv, and a couple of untouched plates suggested models in attendance — the Karma crowd justifies the image it's carved out for itself.

All of which has very little to do with the food. At a loss for anyone else to drag along, I got hold of Marc Jury, a man who spent a brief stint in Europe as a semi-professional wrestler, before moving on to a far more sensible and far less interesting job involving ties and Blackberrys and meetings with people called Morris.

He still eats like a horse, though (he'd like to extend the comparison), so a decent choice for an assault on Karma's menu.

A contemporary twist

Amongst a blaze of starters, you have something Indian restaurants aren't famous for: salads. Part of Karma's culinary charm is a willingness to put a contemporary twist on established fare — cue the salad options, a little different to the standard Greek or Caesar.

Ex-wrestlers don't do salads, however, no matter how exotic they look, and as we were sharing everything, Chicken Malai and Masala-fried Prawns kicked off dinner.

Cashew nut paste blended with yoghurt and cheese, if memory serves, made up the Chicken Malai, and the prawns had a touch of coriander to them: neither dish bad, certainly, but no more than quietly pleasant, the prawns in particular short on character.

Nan bread was excellent though, albeit eaten too liberally, and thus cutting into the main course appetite — the scope of the menu means that appetite would need to be formidable to make a decent impression.

There are some fiery dishes available, genuine roar down your throat and fire out your nostrils stuff, but there's also plenty of the milder fare that plays on variety of spice and subtlety of palate, rather than industrial curry overload.

Something different…

As with the starters, main courses were pleasant — Tandoori Lamb Chops firm, and with decent flavour; Lamb Korma also with an understated spice and hint of richness, albeit surprisingly tough; and Chicken Zebunnisa (I've taken a shot in the dark with the spelling; my Hindi's never been great) something very different, chicken breast crammed with raisins, pistachios, almonds, and lathered in cream, a dish I'm glad I tried for something unusual, but which I'm not entirely convinced works…

Even the wrestler couldn't finish everything, and neither of us were overwhelmed: decent food, in a great setting, and with excellent service (and honest service — a waitress happily told me she didn't think a certain dish was great, a refreshing change from the 'everything is absolutely incredible' line most staff learn by rote), means I'd probably head back, particularly as the wine list has been given some thought, and is good value. But nothing particularly special, I'm afraid — and certainly not the Singapore feast, or a night out with Magnus the German.

Dan Nicholl was a guest of Karma in Greenside, Cnr Gleneagles & Greenfields Roads. To find out more information visit www.dining-out.co.za or www.karmakorporate.co.za or call Karma on +27 11 646 8555