Address: Shajan Indian Restaurant, Longsight Road, Clayton-le-Dale, BB1 9EX.

Phone number: 01254 813234.

Lancashire Telegraph review by Caroline Taylor from May 9, 2009.

SHAJAN has a reputation for being “a bit trendy” — the type of place the Blackburn Rovers players and their WAGS hang out — so I made sure I wore my best dress for the occasion.

We didn’t see any famous faces, but the clientele did seem to be young and upwardly-mobile types, so I was glad I’d made the effort.

Upon arrival we were ushered into a swish bar area on the side of the restaurant where we ordered drinks and were given a menu to peruse.

Unlike most restaurants where you’ve seated straight at the table, at Shajan you’re left to enjoy your drinks at the bar until your order is ready to be served, which was a nice touch.

The jewel in Shajan’s crown has to be its poppadom and chutney selection.

Seriously, there were at least eight dips to choose from including two types of pickle, a minty yoghurt dip, dried coconut, two types of chopped onion and others I didn’t even recognise.

When my main course, chicken karai, came in its individual serving dish I was delighted. That was until I saw my boyfriend’s superior-looking chicken rogan josh, which was full of juicy-looking chillis and fresh coriander.

Both dishes were loaded with spices with an impressive depth of flavour and, at £7.75 each (pilau rice was £2.50), not excessively priced.

What’s so good about Shajan is that it serves authentic Indian food in a sophisticated setting, and yet it’s not at all snooty — other couples (who obviously weren’t as greedy as us) left with doggy bags.

With a few rounds of drinks thrown in, the bill came to around £45.

Like my mum used to say, you get what you pay for.

Lancashire Telegraph review by Caroline Taylor from November 26, 2006.

ONCE you hit your mid twenties drinking copious amounts of vodka in front of X Factor no longer seems an appropriate warm-up to a good night out (well, not every weekend anyway).

What you need is a grown-up meal at a nice restaurant and a few glasses of wine to get you in the mood for dancing.

Four of us went to Shajan Indian Restaurant, Clayton-le- Dale, I never having been before.

The restaurant was nicely busy despite it being early, and we enjoyed a relaxed drink in the bar, and learning from previous mistakes we only ordered one poppodom each, which came with a large tray of chutneys and dips.

We skipped the starters (Have you noticed starters in Chinese restaurants are harder to resist than those in Indians?) and went straight to the mains.

I had lamb dopiaza (it means "more onions"), the boyfriend had mixed bhuna and the other two had chicken tikka masala and chicken karachi.

My dish had plenty of meat and came topped with deep-fried crispy onions.

The others reported their dishes were delicious - with the chicken tikka masala sauce a lovely creamy consistency and mixed bhuna so piping hot that a spilled spoonful left a red mark on the skin.

We shared two huge stingray-shaped garlic naan bread dripping in butter which were divine.

The only criticism I had was that the efficient service left us feeling a tiny bit rushed.

All in all, the Shajan is a good place to star if you want a meal to set you up for a night on the town.

As for somewhere to enjoy a leisurely dinner, I'm not sure.

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