Charlotte is 12 and very much a curry novice. Time to put that right, we thought, as we headed for a night out in Bradford.

At least she knew what onion bhajis were, which is more than can be said of her friend Alex who, although a year older, was even less aware of the delights of Asian food.

The four of us - my wife Jackie (Charlotte's mum) and the two girls - decided we should let the girls choose where to eat. We embarked on a mini tour of neon-lit restaurants, down Leeds Road and up Great Horton Road, before we settled on the Shah Jehan in Little Horton Lane.

It was Saturday night so parking was at a premium but we found somewhere a few minutes' walk away.

The atmosphere was inspiring, almost mystical, for the two girls who would normally be more at home in Burger King or Pizza Hut.

They found the menu somewhat more difficult to fathom - especially as Charlotte has a serious nut allergy.

But with help from our friendly, informative waitress - who pointed out which dishes would be safe - our choices were quickly made and we had time to soak up the atmosphere.

We thought Charlotte and Alex might be on the young side to take to such a good restaurant. We were wrong. Among the varied diners were a family with three young boys and another group with a two-year-old among its number.

We started simply - onion bhajis (£1.50) all round, which we all enjoyed. They were spicier than usual and beautifully presented with fresh, crisp salad.

Charlotte and Alex both went for chicken tikka masalla, Jackie for prawn korma while I settled on chicken dansak with a couple of huge naan bread and two steaming mounds of rice to share between us. They were brought, wonderfully presented in silver tureens, on a trolley and we were soon tucking in.

The girls were quickly converted, though how they managed to squeeze down a couple of ice creams for dessert was beyond Jackie and me.

At £47.50, it was pretty good value considering £10 of that was drinks - lager for Jackie and me, and soft drinks for the girls. Less than £10 a head for food seemed OK to us.

For Charlotte and Alex, McDonald's just won't seem the same again.

Steve Teale

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.