Indian restaurant moves into former Woodlands Hotel Blackburn

The Roomali Restaurant, which was based off Barton Street close to the new Reel Cinema, has re-located to the former Woodlands Hotel which underwent a £750,000 renovation in 2016.

The Woodlands located on the corner of Meins Road opened as a high-end steak restaurant in 2019 but closed in line with government restrictions last March. During the lockdown only take-outs were on offer.

After Government restrictions were relaxed this summer and diners were able to eat inside, the team from Roomali took over and have now rebranded the restaurant as ‘Roomali at the Woodlands’.

The Roomali specialises in ‘authentic’ Indian cuisine and is famous for its tawas – an assortment of curries, kebab dishes, rice and naans. The meal is served in a large round pan and priced £50 upwards.

Manager Yashine Motorwala (above) said they had been inundated with bookings since they moved over to the new location.

He said: “It took us a while to organise things but it has been pleasing being in a more spacious building.

“Our former premises had 120 seats in total and here we have more than 200. Of course that extra space helps us with regards to social distancing.

“We have been really busy over the weekend times since we permitted diners to eat inside and during the week itself it has been good too."

Yashine said: “All of our former customers have been visiting which is really good to see and we are now able to attract a lot more people from across Preston, Bolton and Nelson. So it is good to have more people from outside the town heading into Blackburn.

“We are proud to have brought the authentic Indian tawa dish to the town and it is still proving to quite popular with customers.”

The venue can accommodate small weddings and events and Mr Motorwala said they were looking forward to welcoming guests in the coming weeks.