A WELL known regional curry entrepreneur is set to open his latest restaurant in Southampton this Thursday.

Abdul Tarafder, pictured, is opening his second Rim Jhim restaurant in Hampshire at Canute Road next to Ocean Village.

The opening follows last year's successful launch of the format in Colden Common. It will create a further 15 jobs.

Mr Tarafdar, 41, hopes the name, which translates as raindrop, will come to symbolise a new breed of Indian food.

"It is the same name and the same brand," he said. "It is not a typical curryhouse. We serve things like lamb shank and sea bass and dishes you wouldn't get in a normal curry restaurant.

"It is contemporary Indian cuisine, a new version of Indian food."

He is also known locally for setting up Eastleigh's Ghandhi restaurant in the Swan Centre in 2002, before selling it on a year later.

He is also a member of a partnership that owns two more restaurants in Wiltshire.

The opening follows an extensive refurbishment of the building, and is not the end of his ambitions.

"I have been trying to open here for six months," said Mr Tarafder. "I would like to open more branches.

"Eventually I would like to open quite a few."