An Indian restaurant in St Albans has reopened after being refurbished and changing its name.

Formerly known as 'Nawab St Albans', Samrat reopened its doors at 5.30pm yesterday (Monday, April 3).

The Herts Advertiser attended the restaurant's reopening and spoke with owner Mohammed Shoohan Choudhury.

Herts Advertiser: Mohammed and his father Mr Miah.Mohammed and his father Mr Miah. (Image: Pearce Bates)

Mohammed also owns Nouvelle Lounge, which opened its doors in Marshalswick in September.

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Samrat has followed a similar style to that of Nouvelle Lounge, with a darker cosier feel than that of Nawab.

Herts Advertiser: The interior of Samrat, on London Road.The interior of Samrat, on London Road. (Image: Pearce Bates)

Mohammed said: "The restaurant has been in dire need of a refurb for a long while now.

"We've had a trademark issue, which has meant that we had to rebrand the restaurant.

"So, we thought we'd use that to refurb the restaurant, bring it to a modern standard and keep it in line with our sister restaurant Nouvelle Lounge.

Herts Advertiser: The restaurant has previously been known as 'Nawab St Albans' and 'Taste of Nawab'.The restaurant has previously been known as 'Nawab St Albans' and 'Taste of Nawab'. (Image: Pearce Bates)

Nawab regulars need not fear wholesale changes to the London Road restaurant, with many aspects carried over to the refurbished Samrat location.

The owner continued: "We have tried to keep some similarities with Nawab.

"We wanted to make it a bit cosier with the dark colours, contrasting the gold that we have in here.

Herts Advertiser: The restaurant's interior follows a similar style to that of Nouvelle Lounge.The restaurant's interior follows a similar style to that of Nouvelle Lounge. (Image: Pearce Bates)

"We did follow the same concept from Nouvelle Lounge.

"With them being sister restaurants, we thought we'd keep some similarities."

Having opened Nouvelle Lounge over six months ago, Mohammed gave an update on the progress of Samrat's sister restaurant.

He said: "It's going extremely well, better than anticipated.

                                                                                    

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"We're actually looking to expand the restaurant, to double the capacity.

"Hopefully, this will be completed by summer next year.

"There is just a lot of admin work to do behind the scenes before we go ahead with the extension."

Lastly, speaking of his two restaurants, Mohammed said: "I truly believe that if I carry on with my hard work - and we carry on providing the food that we are providing, the service and the new modern contemporary setting - I believe that our success will roar even louder than before."