 CENTURIES ago innocents were massacred, regions sacked and even a series of wars fought over spices and their worth in transforming a meal. But had Gio Indian Restaurant in Beaumaris been the taste of the East these killers, warriors and greed driven merchants had experienced, then many lives would have been spared. The almost mathematical perfection of combining a thousand spices and fragrant herbs into a vibrant meal we have come to love and expect from Eastern restaurants was sadly missing at Gio. Not that our meal there was bad. There was nothing offensive, it just seemed that they oozed as much flavour as the Rajasthani desert oozes water. When we expected to be bombarded with tastes, what we got was bland. To be fair to Gio the dishes we chose were not the hottest on offer, nor were they ones famed for being an assault on the senses, but they did promise more. My Aloo Chat, or spicy potato on puri bread, was supposed to be mild but surely not tasteless, while Mrs P's Sheek Kebab rasied only an eyebrow when it should have raised at least a glimmer of interest. Forlornly hoping the restaurant deliberately toned down the starters so as not to infringe on the alphabet of tastes we could expect from our main courses, we decided to relax and await our treat. Having been only open a matter of months the restaurant has yet to find its own look. The large open stone fireplace offers a warmth to the room which ties in with many of the older features the town is famous for. But the bright walls and modern metal lantern-style lights are of a different age and stand out almost as much as the Chinese paintings on the wall which look like they were bought from a closing down sale at a Chinese takeaway. Sensibly however they have made the restaurant a no smoking area, not that it would have mattered on the Saturday evening we were there as the place was empty bar ourselves and a group at one more table. But so as not to completely exclude smokers, they are allowed to retreat to the much more pleasantly decorated bar and its comfy seats to puff at leisure. | 
