THE Dilshad Restaurant, in Clarence Place, Newport, stands in an area of the city that can be either one of two extremes - busy and filled with people on Friday and Saturday nights, or quiet and deserted midweek.

Luckily, when we visited midweek it was nice and quiet, and we enjoyed a relaxed meal in comfortable, peaceful surroundings.

To start I had a mixed kebab cocktail - a selection of tasty cooked meats served with a generous helping of salad.

My companion had chicken tikka, and we both accompanied our starters with poppadoms.

For the main course I had chicken tikka - dry chicken pieces served with onions and salad, with egg fried rice.

The difficulty with this dish is that having no curry sauce can sometimes make it too dry, but here each chicken piece was both tasty and succulent.

My companion opted for the Dilshad Special Curry, a medium curry with chicken, lamb and prawns.

As a side order we had naan breads, and accompanied the main course with Cobra beer, a popular Indian lager which does a pretty good job of countering spicy foods. The meal was finished off with two cooling bowls of Kulfi, an Indian ice cream with pistachio nuts.

Including drinks, the total bill came to £38.00. It is also worth noting that the Dilshad has a buffet every night, including chicken and lamb dishes, where you can eat as much as you like for £7.50. Darren Evans