AFTER 20 years of devotion to my local Indian restaurant, there’s a new place in town that any self-respecting curry addict needs to check out.

Naan in Moordown, Bournemouth, only opened its doors a short while ago and is run by lovely husband and wife team Sonia and Ankush, who have a genuine passion for good food.

The restaurant only caters for around 24 people, so it is quite intimate and you can glimpse into the kitchen at the back.

Sonia, who was born and brought up in Delhi, says on the website that she was always fascinated with the local street food and kebab vendors and you can see its influence on the menu.

There are so many interesting and original sounding dishes that it was difficult to know where to start. We decided to begin with the vegetarian sampler, which was a selection of achaari paneer tikka, vegetable samosa, aloo tikki, pakora and onion bhaji.

Each dish was perfectly cooked and tasted as if it had been freshly made, bursting with robust flavours and exotic aromas.

As you might expect from the restaurant name, there is a good variety of naan breads to choose from, ranging from chilli, butter and cheese naans to naan rolls with curry.

We opted for a stuffed kulcha naan served with a choice of cheese, potato, onion or lamb mince, which was practically a meal in itself.

For mains we chose two chef’s specials; butter chicken and khurchan chicken. The butter chicken was fragrant and creamy without the usual pools of oil swimming on the surface, and the chicken was moist and succulent.

The khurchan dish was a tangy combination of boneless chicken, tomatoes, garlic and slivers of green pepper with just the right amount of heat to compliment the other milder dish.

For a side order we had a portion of pilau rice, light, saffron flavoured basmati rice without the usual artificially coloured grains.

Everything tasted authentic and home-cooked. Even the desserts sounded amazing and I’m not usually tempted by puds in an Indian restaurant.

If I’d had room, I would have tried the Naan Sundae Special with salted caramel and chocolate ice cream topped with hot fudge, whipped cream and a sparkler.

All in all this was a first rate meal. But it’s the little touches that really set this place apart.

Even the selection of dips that came with our poppadums were made on the premises and served in ornate serving bowls. I predict big things for this place.

 

OUR BILL:
Poppadums and pickles £0.95 x 4:    £3.80
Stuffed kulcha:     £2.45
Vegetarian sampler:     £6.95
1 pilau rice:     £2.45
2 bottles of Kingfisher beer £1.95 x 3:    £5.85
Butter chicken:     £6.95
Khurchan chicken:     £6.95

Total:     £35.40