MALIKS Tandoori Restaurant in Cookham is well known for being a good place to spot a celebrity or two. I didn't spot any on my visit but I did sample the beautiful food on offer.

The restaurant was opened in the quaint village in 1999 by Malik Ahmed. The village looks even lovelier than usual at the moment with the tasteful Christmas lights adorning the buildings.

And once into the dimly lit restaurant it looks just as good, with dark wooden beams, exposed brick work and candles adorning the tables. There is also an open fire, which makes it feel very homely.

It has just had an extension completed, which means the restaurant can now cater for up to 120 people.

Malik said they are fully booked most weekends and the extension means they can cater for larger parties. As well as the Cookham restaurant he has eateries in Marlow and Gerrards Cross.

He has recently opened Express Kitchen in Gerrards Cross, which does takeaways and also caters for events such as weddings and big parties.

Malik is a very personable man and told us the restaurant trade is in his blood. His family business was a hotel and restaurant chain in Bangladesh . Eight years ago the family decided the sell the trade and Malik is the only one left in the restaurant business.

His father died when Malik was 18 and his brother, 21. They took over his restaurant in Leeds but due to lack of experience the restaurant shut. He said: "I felt really bad that I had lost my father's restaurant. I had lots of good memories with that restaurant. I was really heart broken."

Since then he has worked at restaurants all over the country to find out what makes a successful restaurant.

And he seems to have worked out the formula at his Cookham restaurant. Starters range from about £3.50 to £7. We had a selection of starters. The Tandoori King Prawn was divine- it was large and juicy and cooked to perfection. It was cooked on a skewer over charcoal so had that lovely BBQ flavour and with the subtle spices it was incredibly moreish.

The Chicken Nazakat was another favourite with tender, garlicky chicken which tasted almost buttery.

The Chicken Chaat was cooked in a tomato and spicy sauce and was a nice change to the drier starters, and the Sheek Lamb was also fantastic- not too greasy yet still full of that lovely lamb flavour.

The Marrechi Ponir- a fresh whole chilli stuffed with mild cheese, covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried- was a nice change to what I would usually choose. The cheese is mild, yet has a nice flavour, which is stuffed inside a case of breadcrumbs with a flattened chilli. The chilli is not too spicy but leaves a pleasant taste in your mouth. It was a great starter and I was looking forward to the mains, which range from around £7.50 to £15.

The Chicken Rezala is grilled chicken cooked in tangy lemon sauce and fresh chillies. This was for my boyfriend Tom, who prefers a spicier curry, but he said it wasn't as hot as you might expect and the lemon sauce really added a different dimension to the humble curry.

The Korai Lamb was fantastic- a really great curry as the different flavours were so distinctive. It is a medium tomato dish but the pepper flavour really stands out, which I liked.

The Murghi Massalam, spring chicken cooked with medium spice, fresh herbs and minced lamb, was also a great addition to the meal as I liked the added mince in the tomato sauce.

For side dishes we tried the Sag Ponir (spinach and home-made cheese cooked in a mild creamy blend), which Tom and I devoured. Mixed with the creamy, mild cheese the spinach tasted like no other.

We also tried the Dall Tarka, which are lentils. They were ok but I must confess I am not a big fan of lentils so perhaps not for me. The Garlic and Peshwari Naan were both done extremely well done- fluffy and flavoursome.

And we also had special rice (basmati rice with egg ribbons and herbs) and pulao rice. As I am sure you can imagine we were stuffed by the end of the meal. It's a great curry house. It was fully booked the night we were in and seems to get more and more popular.

The curry is fresh and lovingly prepared and I really liked the range of dishes on offer. Mixed with the beautiful setting of Cookham it really does make for a special night out. Go to www.maliks.co.uk