THE Taj Mahal is located within Chippenham's takeaway-rich town centre within seconds of at least five other similar establishments.

Despite the plentiful competition it holds its own in the town and half of the seats in the restaurant were filled when I visited on a Tuesday evening.

It's got everything a curry restaurant should have; a wide selection of dishes, lots of poppadoms, ambient music in the background and Kingfisher beer.

It also has one added extra that may or may not persuade you to visit - the owners allow smoking throughout the restaurant.

Perhaps it is a little unfair to judge a restaurant simply because I am a non-smoker but people lighting up on the table next to me at the moment my chicken bhuna arrived did take the edge of the enjoyment of my meal.

Anne, who accompanied me to the restaurant, really enjoyed her choice - Tandoori hasina chicken. It arrived sizzling hot and was served by our helpful waiter.

We shared a portion of mushroom rice, sag aloo and a peshwari nan.

I always find there is more than enough food when eating at Indian restaurants, maybe I eat too many poppadoms and mango chutney before the main meal but I do not consider eight to be excessive.

Sure enough though, we couldn't get through everything we had ordered but I wasn't prepared to let it all go to waste.

So I secreted the remaining half of the peshwari nan into my duffel coat pocket and forgot about it until the next day. When my fingers clasped around it while searching for a pen during a conference it brought a glimmer of joy to an otherwise dark and dismal day.

The day-old nan proved to be a tasty accompaniment to a cup of tea on my return to the office but my reporter's notepad now smells of almonds, cashews and raisins, the principle ingredients.

The food in Taj Mahal is very good but nevertheless it seemed excessively expensive when we received the bill.

We were horrified, but it turned out that the bill we had been given belonged to another table.

Our own bill was much more reasonable and the waiter gave us extra chocolates for making the mistake.

During the meal I happened to glance across the slightly smoky room and saw a local businesswoman, who runs a clothes shop in the town, enjoying a meal with her family.

It is always good to see local traders supporting one another and buying local produce.

It reduces the air and road miles that build up when produce is transported across the country.

The Taj Mahal will satisfy any curry connoisseur and will be especially attractive to smokers who like to light up with their meal.

Customers who object to cigarette smoke might like to wait until the smoking ban comes in this summer.

Only then will this sort of thing come to a halt because no one will have a choice in the matter.

The nanny state may sometimes work out for the best after all.

By Benjamin Parkes

Taj Mahal Indian Tandoori restaurant

51 The Causeway

Chippenham

SN12 366

(01249) 653243

  • Open seven days a week
  • Take away, eat in and delivery
  • Smoking allowed in restaurant
  • Range of ethnic-inspired dishes
  • Town centre location
  • British Curry Award winner 2006