THERE’S an old and very poor joke about lambs and mint sauce. Don’t mention that particular condiment near them as they’ll run away.

The same could be said of Ostriches and the Chilli Lounge. Mention that restaurant’s name and the big bird will bury its head straight in the sand.

For there’s both ostrich and venison on the menu at the restaurant which opened two months ago on Huddersfield Road just past Calderdale Royal Hospital on the way into Halifax. It also has a larger restaurant on John William Street in Huddersfield town centre.

The Calderdale restaurant just at the top of Salterhebble used to be a pizza place called Luigi’s and one abiding memory of that was its black and white tiled floor. It looked like a giant chess board and was, shall we say, somewhat in your face.

And so it came to pass that it was my daughter Sally’s 16th birthday so we thought we’d go out to celebrate as a family on the great day itself. So where do you take a family with kids ranging in ages from six to 18 with at least one claiming not to like spicy food or curry. No, make that two.

How about a curry house for starters ... and mains.

The restaurant – before Luigi’s it was the Stafford Arms pub – has been revamped inside. It’s been checkmate for that oppressive black and white floor which has been replaced with wood, the chairs are the soft brown leather type and the walls turned into an unusual design with some nifty concealed lighting to give the place an upmarket ambience.

The menu’s a monster with way over 100 dishes to choose from. Take your time, your glasses and quite possibly a book to read while your companions pour over the dozens of dishes again and again.

We had to play safe and go for dishes that the kids would like and decided to share them all between us.

So it was onion bhajis and the chicken tikka suka plus the Chilli Lounge Special Starter of lamb chops, chicken tikka, aloo chops and seekh kebab for two. The bhajis were large, round and melt-in-the mouth while the lamb chops were small, well-done and medium spiced. Chicken tikka was prime white meat with a mild spice coating, the aloo chops are the Indian equivalent to croquet potatoes while the seekh kebab had the most kick – but more a brush with the foot than a boot. Chicken tikka suka comes in a mildish sweet and sour sauce – a subtle taste – tucked up in a bed of onions.

The proof’s in the eating. Within minutes there was nothing left.

Mains were chicken korma, chicken passandra, vegetable korma and Syleti lamb. The korma was mild and our non-curry lover kind of hugged it to her, trying in vain to fend off the six-year-old who had turned his nose up at the children’s menu. That dish was going no further down the table and was ideal for a first time curry eater.

The passandra had a slightly more robust taste – a hint of vinegar-style sour in there – and was a pinkish shade of red and massively saucy. Oh er, missus. It’s made with fresh cream, cultured yoghurt and nuts.

Syleti is a Bangladeshi dish that’s cooked in tandoori with fresh coriander, a fair amount of ginger, garlic, green peppers, chopped onion, fenugreek, spices and garma masala. So a lot in there as it danced around on the tastebuds more than the rest.

Although the kids demolished the vegetable korma it was too sweet for the curry veterans. Not a scrap of food was left.

The menu just goes on and on so the next time we’ll leave the kids at home and perhaps seriously ponder the likes of venison jaflongee cooked with capsicum and onions served on a sizzler, venison jalfrezi cooked with green chillies in a Punjabi style herbs, spices and onion sauce or the staff curry that’s traditional homestyle curry with chicken or lamb on the bone.

For fish lovers there’s machli sallom, a dish from Bengal featuring diced pieces of fish cooked in a medium sauce with fresh garlic and finely chopped onions, green peppers and green masala.

Main dishes range mainly from just under £7 to £9.50 – but you’ll then need to add in the rice.

Service is good – continually asking if we were OK with the meal.

If there’d just been the two of us we’d probably have been more adventurous and there are plenty to try here – many you’ll struggle to find anywhere else.

Chilli Lounge

Huddersfield Road, Halifax, HX3 ONS

Tel@01422 348085

Website: @www.chilliloungehalifax.co.uk

Opening hours: @Monday to Saturday 5pm-11pm; Sunday 5.30pm-11pm

Children: @Yes

Disabled: @Yes, but no disabled toilet (andy to check)

The bill: @£72.20

Would you go back? @Yes - the kids especially liked it.