A nicely appointed restaurant in contemporary style with pale wooden floors, pastel green colouring and good quality cutlery and linen. It seats about 70 in total. Greatly different from its much smaller and cramped accommodation down a side alley off River Street from where it moved in 2000, although the ownership, management and chef have remained the same (according to the head waiter at the time - " it's all the same apart from the chairs").

I first visited 1999 at the previous address and wasn't particularly impressed, and visited the new premises in 2003 when once again I felt the food had not improved to the extent of the premises. On that occasion I found the Onion Bhajias to be stodgy, the main dishes disappointing and the Peshwari Nan lacking in any filling other than a faint smear of almond paste. I am afraid this resulted in a less than encouraging report and a disinclination to return. However, a contact in Truro - who frequently visits many Indian restaurants in the area - informed me that the bhajias had improved, and that in his experience the food is usually good, although the chef travels home to Bangla Desh periodically. It seemed possible that I had suffered an unfortunate and untypical experience, so it was time to revisit and put it to the test.

Well, I'm very glad I did, as the whole meal was excellent (and I was incognito, so no special treatment). The Onion Bhajias had certainly improved since my previous visit, being crisp, tasty and lacking the previous stodge. The Chicken Chat was excellent, being a little different from average as it had more a sweet than sharp taste, and was quite different in flavour and cooking from last time. I found it delicious.

For the main dishes we chose Chicken Jalfrezi and a Tandoori Chicken. The Jalfrezi was first class - hot, tasty and with sliced chillis properly cooked into the dish to give it the hot, underlying flavour (which is how it should be, and not with fresh chillis just sprinkled on top, which is often done and a practice which detracts from the taste). The Tandoori Chicken was also excellent, being well marinated and substantial, meaty pieces of chicken. Dall Shamber was very tasty with plenty of spinach, and the accompanying rice and Peshwari Nan a good average, although the Nan was again a vast improvement on before as it did have some filling this time. 

The service was good (apart from the table reservation - see below)) and the portions quite sufficient. At the time of my first visit the prices were the cheapest of the four restaurants in Truro but inevitably they have risen, as should be expected, with the standard of the accommodation. However, no restaurant in Truro is cheap compare with national averages, and by Truro standards a random basket price check shows the Shanaz to be very competitively priced and good value.

As an aside, it's also worth mentioning that I'm told they also do a lot of good work for charity.

Malcolm Wilkins - September 2004