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Romantic dinners on the run? My husband and I stopped by India House the other night, cramming in a great meal between working out and our regular duplicate bridge night. With only one hour to ourselves we imagined spending it with naan and sag paneer.

After battling Cerrillos Road traffic, India house is always a welcome, calming atmosphere. We were seated immediately. Menus, water and marvelous coriander pappar were delivered. The pappar came with two very different dipping sauces, a dark tamarind and a light mint/cilantro chutney. With the simple pappar and a glass of Gruet Chardonnay, I felt at peace. We both elected to order from the Specials menu. India House thoughtfully offers a variety of specials: meat, chicken, vegetarian and non-vegatarian. All specials come with a soup, naan, a rice, desert and coffee. The lentil soup did little to tickle my husband's tastebuds. I tried it with a little salt and pepper, then resorted to some tamarind sauce. Just bland. Could not be resuscitated. The dinner arrived after a long pause, punctuated by my husband's plaintive cries for nourishment. All together came the naan, lovely yellow rice and peas pulao and our entrees. The Lamb Tikka Kabab ($16.95) was very welcome. Huge, perfected roasted and spiced chunks of lamb so large, they could be subdivided into four bites each. My Navrattan Korma and Alu Gobi ($14.95) were polar opposites of each other. Cauliflower, typically a vegetable I have a tense relationship with, was the dominant vegetable in the korma with potatoes not far behind. No French-cut green beans or pineapple, but plenty of cashews and carrots. I actually enjoyed my cauliflower experience. With plenty of smoky cumin and heavy cream, the sauce was not so much complex as rich and satisfying. The Alu Gobi, on the other hand, was indefinable. I still do not really know what is in this dish. It was certainly a pleasant taste, though. We had the dessert (delicious mango custard) and the check brought during dinner as we were running late at this point. Can you dine romantically on the run? Not really, but it was a wonderful effort. Dinner for two with one glass of wine came to $46.00.