Bookings at restaurant 'off the scale' since Ryan Reynolds review

Ryan Reynolds said the Ellesmere Port restaurant served the "best Indian food in Europe"

A restaurant's bookings have been "off the scale" since Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds said it had the "best Indian food in Europe", its owners have said.

The actor posted a picture of a flyer from the Light of India in Ellesmere Port on his Instagram at the weekend.

Shaa Rahaman, 28, whose family have run the restaurant since 1980, said he was "gobsmacked" when he spotted the post.

He said he called his parents and asked if Ryan Reynolds came to the restaurant "and they said 'who is Ryan Reynolds?'"

After showing them photographs of the star online and explaining he might have been wearing a Wrexham AFC cap, Mr Rahaman said his parents "just stared at me with blank faces".

"My parents don't watch Hollywood films," he explained, "they are South Asian and are more into Bollywood".

"They don't know who he is, which is quite funny," he said, "but we are all very thankful for Ryan to do it. It has certainly increased business."

Mr Rahaman said his parents did not recognise the star as they "are more into Bollywood than Hollywood"

The family do not know if Reynolds physically came in to eat in the restaurant but suspect he most likely ordered a takeaway.

The Hollywood star had been 20 miles (32km) away in Wrexham for his side's home win against Maidstone United.

Reynolds co-owns the National League club with fellow actor Rob McElhenney, after the pair bought it in 2020.

The duo have been documenting their first season in charge for a programme to be broadcast on Disney+.

Mr Rahaman said he would love to invite the Deadpool star in for a meal on the house next time he was in the UK and said it "would be great to sit down and have a chat".

"It's been completely crazy since Sunday," he said.

"We were just starting to recover as a business after Covid and this has been like a godsend, it's been insane."