Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan has been one of the longer-standing Indian restaurants in Ilkeston, occupying a corner site at the foot of Awsworth Road just off the main route out of town towards Awsworth and Eastwood. Long-term regulars often refer to it as one of the best Indian restaurants in this part of east Derbyshire, with reviews on Tripadvisor and Facebook returning to the same word over and over again — consistency.

The kitchen runs an unusually broad menu. At the milder end there are the standard kormas, kurmas and pasandas; at the other, hotter South Indian-style dishes that the kitchen leans into rather than tones down. House specials, baltis and a full tandoori section sit alongside a small English menu — a hangover from the dining-room days, when sit-down customers might want a steak — and a vegetarian section that goes beyond the usual two-line afterthought.

The restaurant has been through a quieter spell more recently. After a period when the sit-down side was scaled back, it relaunched as a takeaway-led operation, which is how most local customers now order. Portions are large, the rice is generous and the lamb dishes get repeat mentions in reviews. For anyone living around Cotmanhay, Larklands or Kirk Hallam, Shah Jahan remains a familiar first-choice curry house rather than a passing-trade one.