Address: Bolton Road, Abbey Village, Chorley, PR6 8DA.

Phone number: 01254 832894.

THIS venue is now celebrating a new look and a new style of cuisine having been an Italian restaurant for some years.

Can it work? Will people drive out of town for an Indian meal?

In my humble opinion, it’s worth a try as our Saturday night meal proved highly successful.

This is classy Indian food, in equally classy surroundings with a marginally above-average price tag.

Clearly money has been spent on creating a pleasing decor — check out the glitzy, yet tasteful, bar area — and the waiters provide just the right level of attentiveness (helpful without being over the top).

You get the usual Indian obligatories, poppodoms, onion bhajis and samosas, but if you factor in the range of tandoori meat and fish starters, interesting soups and mixed starters perfect for sharing, then Naga is offering something a little different to your average Indian eaterie — a main course ranges from a veggie option at the £6 mark right up to £14 for a king prawn extravaganza).

We took two aficionados who have dined at some of the best Indian restaurants this area has to offer, and they declared their handi chicken (chicken cooked in spices and garlic) and chicken tikka with madras sauce pretty dam good.

I’m a veggie, so the plentiful meat dishes (and there are dozens) were out, but as each of the classic dishes can be cooked with mixed vegetables I was fine.

I had vegetable biriyani and the chef was happy to include a korma sauce rather than the vegetable curry sauce suggested on the menu.

It was pleasing to find the waiters asking when we were ready for our next course rather than serving each course in quick succession, and the atmosphere on the night we chose was fun and lively.

The fourth member of our party was happy with his choice of lamb nawabi (lamb tikka cooked with minced meat, vegetables, chillies and herbs).

Having wolfed down poppodoms, several mixed starters (the vegetarian mixed starter was as popular with the meat eaters as it was with me) and oodles of rice with our curries — not to mention the huge and extremely light and fluffy keema and peshwari nan (chips are on offer for the Philistines) — it was with full stomachs that we opted for ice cream and then coffee.

We did have to send the coffee back as it wasn’t steaming hot, but our request was met with apologies and the waiter returned with a freshly brewed coffee pot for our table, so no complaints there.

With starters and sweets ranging from about £3 it is possible to eat a decent meal without breaking the bank.

Naga also has a children’s menu which includes mild curries and for less adventurous young diners the children’s staples of chicken nuggets and fish fingers.

The final bill, including alcoholic drinks, came to £90 — a pleasing night out and not too costly either.

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