Shampan Restaurant — Restaurant in North Tyneside

Our monthly meal out took us North, through the tunnel and out to the coast to a lovely restaurant in one of my childhood haunts. We were welcomed by the very friendly staff and invited to have a look at the menu while we waited for our dining companions. When they arrived we were given a choice of tables to sit at, we chose the one in the centre of the restaurant which not only gave us a sea view but prime location to experience the birthday celebrations and Happy Birthday song for two of the other tables, singing done enthusiastically but not very tunefully, perhaps the bum notes were intentional. Our drinks order was taken and delivered quickly and then it was onto our food order, Indian restaurant staples of poppadoms and pickles were followed by very contemporary presented starters which tasted as good as they looked. The mains came and filled the table, very generous portions, everything was a delight, the slow cooked food was as tender as expected and the meal described as fresh was just that, beautifully cooked with crisp tasty veg along with the lovely chicken tikka. Nan breads were brought and tasted like they had just come out of the oven, although mine was delivered quite late, I had to ask if it had been forgotten, the reason for knocking off one star. No room this time for desert, everything was really tasty and we were offered complementary shots at the end but alas nothing for the driver. The staff are great, friendly and attentive without being intrusive, always a great plus. We all loved our food and we will definitely be back...

We arrived and were promptly shown our table. We ordered meals from the special menu, plus a vegetable bhaji and tarka daal. The starters were nice. Well presented and tasty. As it was Ramadan the manager informed the customers that there would be some small delays whilst the observant staff broke fasting, this was fine and good to see the staff were being looked after. We did not mind at all. The delay was minimal. The mains arrived and the curries, rice and naans were good. The vegetable bhaji was good too, however the daal was not. It was too smooth, more like a split pea soup and there was very little spiced flavour, not at all what I have ever experienced before, nor what I would want to experience again. When the manager stepped to ask if all was OK with the meal, I offered honest feedback in regards to the daal. What disappointed, was that he was unable to accept this feedback, stating that's just how they do it, that may be the case but at the very least listen to the feedback, rather than dismiss it as he did. Just because many people do not give such feedback does not mean it is all good. We finished our meal and left. I was disappointed in how the manager responded and it spoilt what had been nice night. As stated, food is good, the surroundings and decor are nice, but a note to the manager, if you can't accept honest feedback from a customer, don't ask them how...

It was a pleasant restaurant to sit in and a nice atmosphere for the evening. If you're not from Whitley Bay, the social media for Shampan may grab your attention above the others, but don't be fooled by the pics, it's incredibly sugary sugary food and resembles a bad indo chinese rather than an authentic curry house. Both our mains were so sugary they were unpalatable. When asked how our meal was, we described as above and the owner said we should have checked the level of sweetness before ordering. They did replace one dish with yet another sugary dish which was slightly better, but still, we were unable to eat most of it. It's a shame as the house wine was nice and reasonably priced and we really enjoyed the lamb chat starter. As Whitley Bay residents we have eaten in all of the local curry restaurants and this is the only one we'll never return to. The reason for the 2* service rating is that the level of service dramatically changed after we called the food sugary. We had 2 poppadoms, 1 starter, 2 mains, rice, nan and wine...