Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

About The Restaurant

Some of my very favourite places to go are Indian restaurants. I’ve always loved good Indian food with it’s wonderful rich palette of flavours that just can't be found in other cuisines. That being said, I’ve had lots of awful, flavourless mush served up to me over the years, from terrible tikkas to dubious dopiazas; so, when I find a really good Indian, I just want to shout it from the rooftops.

On a recent trip North West, himself and I ventured into Chandpur Indian restaurant in Donegal Town and were absolutely charmed by the staff, food and atmosphere that greeted us. The room, which is on the first floor, is bright and atmospheric with lots of pinks, reds and yellows making the whole place feel lively and engaging, and adding to the atmosphere created by the Indian style decor. 

Starters included favourites like onion bhajis or savoury samosas, alongside some less known but very tasty sounding appetisers such as prawn puri, a south Asian appetizer of prawns with tomato puree, ginger, garlic and chopped onions served with a lightly puffed; or shami kebab, finely minced meat mixed with a variety of herbs and spices, and fried in butter. I decided to go for their Meghna special, which was a cracking pairing of chicken tikka and minced lamb, superbly spiced, cooked in onion, mango, lemon juice and accompanied by a salad. Brendan went for Chandpur king prawns, a sumptuous dish of the fresh water crustaceans, all the way from Bangladesh, cooked with coconut powder, onion, tomato, cream and their chef’s special spices, which was absolutely delicious. 

For the mains, there were lots of options, with a tandoori specials menu offering a variety of dishes prepared in the famous tandoor oven. Along with some old style favourites like an Indian Railway Curry, which, as the name hints, was a dish served to first class diners of the famous Indian railways during the Raj. On Chandpur's curry menu, you can find all of the usual suspects, from Korma to Bhuna to Balti to Sag and all the way up to the spicy heights of a classic Vindaloo, with all dishes available with chicken, chicken tikka, lamb or king prawn. They also offer a Biryani menu along with a selection of vegetarian dishes available as a full mains or just as a side. The chef’s specials had far less familiar dishes, like Khusbu Delight – bbq chicken tikka with onion, green peppers and tomato, cooked in a mild creamy almond sauce; Aloo Keema, a dish of minced lamb cooked with potato, green peas and spring onion; as well as garlic chicken tikka chilli bhuna in a spicy sauce of onions, tomato, garlic, coriander and green chilli. I eventually opted for a Lamb Bangla, a very tasty, mildly spicy dish cooked in a creamy sauce with onion, mushroom, peppers and tomato, and served with pilau rice. Himself chose their Chandpur special curry delight with chicken (also available with lamb) which was, I’m told, a tropical treasure, with a rich mildly spicy sauce and strips of tropical fruit. He loved it.

Well fed and delighted with our meal, we demurred from Rocky River ice-cream cakes, chocolate puddings and ice-cream, and headed for the hills.

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