Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2009 | Page 110

life FOOD & DRINK Spice of life for a family man Martin Potter meets the man behind the Island’s newest takeaway. AS he prepares to open Chutneys Express, a new takeaway in Ventnor, it would be easy to think Jilah Miah had been riding the wave of the every-growing popularity of Indian cuisine. But meeting him you can’t help thinking he created the demand, single handedly. You come away from meeting Jilah with the work “focussed” in your mind. He is owner and 110 proprietor of the Nabab tandoori restaurant in Newport, which he has run since 1990. But he is also the eldest of three brothers. Rujal runs Cinnamon in Ryde and Munsur, runs the Tamarind in Newport. So they’ve about got the Island covered. It wasn’t long ago, when Jilah first came to the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth, that there were only a scant handful of Indian restaurants here. He came here in 1987, working in the Bombai Palace in Cowes. He then moved on to the Agra Deluxe, but his boss decided to sell that restaurant to move back to Portsmouth. The Island's most loved magazine