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COWBRIDGE
Shampan
Dinner with friends
If you’re an avid reader of Vale Life, you’ll know that I love Indian food. So, when I was asked to review the Shampan Indian restaurant in Cowbridge’s High Street, I leapt at the chance.
I thought I’d invite a few colleagues, one of whom is a vegetarian to give our individual opinions on the evening.
I arrived a little early and got chatting to a lovely chap and his son in the foyer area after I heard the dulcet tones of a north Waleian. As it happened Myrddyn Hughes and his son Noa, aged seven, are regular customers at Shampan, having takeaways at least once a week. Myrddyn, is Head of the Commercial Centre for HSBC Bank covering Bridgend and the Valleys, and has lived in Cowbridge with his family for the last six months following a job relocation from Anglesey.
I asked Myrddyn what he liked about Shampan and this is what he had to say. “The food is consistently good here. They are really friendly and the service is excellent. They recognise me as soon as I walk through the door and I’m always greeted with a ‘Good evening Mr Hughes’ which you don’t expect these days. Noa is given a free bottle of pop while we wait for our takeaway, which is another nice touch.”
I bade my farewells to Myrddyn and Noa and my colleagues arrived. Owner Athoul Chowdhury, otherwise known as Bright to his friends appeared and made us welcome. The nickname suited his disposition perfectly as a more pleasant and charming chap you couldn’t wish to meet. Pleasantries exchanged, Bright showed us to our table and gave us menus to look over while we ordered drinks.
Looking around the room, it was decorated as you might imagine a typical Indian restaurant. Lots of reds and golds and low lighting. Bright returned with our drinks and brought with him plans of how his restaurant will look after a forthcoming rebranding and redecoration exercise.
Bright has recently taken over the helm after successfully building up his other restaurant in Pengam. In the few short months he’s been in Cowbridge, he has seen an increase in custom. Bright has big things planned for Shampan.
We were keen to sample the cuisine and made our selection from the extensive menu. Bright suggested we start our meal with a selection from his new menu of casiculum bahari and chicken taha-tysar. These consisted of peppers filled with chicken and spices and chicken stuffed with mince meat. Both dishes were colourful, with tastu meat, tender and full of flavour.
Accompanying our starters were four papadoms and the obligatory chutney tray. Bright’s colleague (owner of another knockout smile) deftly removed our dishes to make way for our mains. These consisted of duck korai, lamb kurchi, lamb shaslik for us meat eaters and a sag bhaji and a tarka dal for the vegetarian in our party. To accompany our mains we had lemon and onion rice, mushroom rice, garlic nan and chapatti with four onion bhaji’s thrown in for good measure.
We had all decided on lager as our choice of beverage but Bright suggested we accompany our mains with a bottle of Marquees de Caceres, a white wine from Spain and who were we to question him? The subtle flavours of this particular grape suited the food perfectly! I was very impressed with my time spent at Shampan. The food, service and hospitality of our charming hosts made for an experience I will want to repeat. I’m very excited for Bright’s plans for Shampan and hope they come to fruition.
Here’s what one of my colleagues had to say...
“Being an Anglo-Indian, I always look for something a bit different. There were some mouth-watering options for fish, but instead I opted for my favourite vegetarian dishes and was delighted to find lemon and onion rice on the menu which is something I make at home but rarely find in restaurants locally. Last but not least service was definitely brought to us with a smile and with a passion that is so often lacking these days.” Suzanne Jaya
“The food, service and hospitality of our charming hosts made for an experience I will want to repeat.”
Shampan Indian Restaurant
70 Eastgate, Cowbridge CF71 7AB
01446 771682 or 01446 774590
Open Mon – Sat 5.30pm – 11.30pm Sun 12 noon until 11pm
The Shampan Indian Restaurant has been awarded 4 star Food Hygiene Rated Score on the Door by the Food Standards Agency Supported Scheme |
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