Pink Leaf, the newest kid on the block at Alexandra Parade, Weston-super-Mare is colourful and funky and is impossible to miss as its brightly lit frontage beams a pink welcome from streets away. The restaurant is set over two floors and the entrance has an impressive floor to ceiling water feature which takes the eye as you go in. Although they have only been open ten weeks, customers were jostling for tables and the atmosphere was buzzing with a cross-section of birthday parties, romantic twos, and just plain social dining.

The menu is large and varied but the owners are at pains to point out that they carry all the ingredients for the various dishes and they are made freshly to order. We looked through the menu with a pint of the excellent Kingfisher beer, poppadums and the pickle tray at our elbows and I was both intrigued and impressed to see some dishes I had not encountered before, seeing as I consider myself a bit of an Indian food buff. So with this in mind, we chose Hash Bash, crispy duck stir fried with bamboo shoots in light spice and Piyaz Pakoras, crispy round balls made from onion, gram flour and spices to start, followed by Shapla Delight, chicken cooked with fried garlic, coriander and mild spice, and Kutcher Mango, a mix of crabmeat in mild creamy sauce.

The starters came with a small square china dish divided into slots for spoonfuls of different chutneys, some hot, some not and this was a great accompaniment to the pakoras which were light and flavoursome. The bamboo shoots made the perfect partner for the crispy duck and I really enjoyed the herb and salad garnishes for their perfect freshness. The main courses were equally worthy of note, particularly the Shapla Delight deliciously full of garlic but not so much as to swamp the coriander. I learned afterwards that this was the wife of the owner’s favourite dish that they ate at home so it was obviously a great choice.

A lot of trouble has been taken at Pink Leaf and the service is excellent. A party of eight young girls were having much difficulty in dividing the bill between them (what price our education system?) and the owner cheerfully worked out each one’s individual bill and gave them change accordingly. He then presented them with a small tot of something sweet and sticky but not before making sure each one was old enough to drink. How nice is that – an Indian restaurant you can trust your daughters to?

The food was excellent and we had a very convivial evening; mores the pity that we don’t live in Weston-super-Mare!

Jacquie Vowles