Owners of an Ellesmere Port curry house are "gobsmacked" after being bombarded by orders following praise from Ryan Reynolds.
The Hollywood star took to Instagram over the weekend as he claimed the Light of India Balti House, in Whitby Road, serves the "best Indian food in Europe". He shared a flyer for the restaurant with his 44 million followers.
The couple running the restaurant are not familiar with Reynolds, their son Shaa Rahaman explained to Cheshire Live. Shaa, a Ryan Reynolds fan, said they don't tend to watch Hollywood movies and so it wasn't until he happened to check Reynolds's Instagram account that he was astounded to see one of the family business's flyers pictured.
READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds makes 'best in Europe' claim about Ellesmere Port restaurant
Now Shaa and his sister Rushmeem and parents Rahaman Baten and Rajia Rahaman are trying to figure out when the Hollywood actor might have visited or what he ordered. At this moment in time it's still a mystery as Shaa's parents Rahaman and Rajia wouldn't have recognised Reynolds.
Shaa told Cheshire Live he and his sister had asked their parents if they had noticed anyone wearing a Wrexham AFC cap or with a Canadian-American accent calling in on Saturday, but they do not recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Shaa's family have run the popular restaurant and takeaway in the Westminster area of Ellesmere Port since the 1980s.
Things certainly moved to a truly stellar level for the business when the Hollywood star lavished it with praise on his Instagram account. And the phones haven't stopped ringing since then with customers new and old wanting to get a taste of what the Deadpool star enjoyed.
Reynolds may have called in or ordered takeaway or arranged a delivery at some point on Saturday as part of his post-match celebrations after Wrexham beat Maidstone United 5-0. The club is famously co-owned by Reynolds and fellow star Rob McElhenney who are releasing a new docuseries on Disney+ which charts their journey supporting the club and the community in the north east Wales town.
Shaa said: "It's quite overwhelming. Me and my sister were gobsmacked by it. Ryan Reynolds posted it and we didn't even know. If he posted this then he must have thought highly of our food.
"We didn't know what was going on. We were quite busy with orders, doing takeaways as well. I follow Ryan on Instagram and the next morning I noticed a picture of one of our flyers on his Instagram story. I went over to my mum and dad and said did Ryan Reynolds come in the restaurant but because they don't really watch any Hollywood movies they didn't know.
"I said 'did he come in or take a meal away' but no one had realised and they wouldn't have recognised him anyway. I personally think he may have had a takeaway and someone else could have picked it up or ordered it for him. He could have had it on the way to the airport or he could even have sat in. We don't know.
"I even asked my parents if anyone had walked in wearing a Wrexham cap. Everything went crazy after Ryan Reynolds shared that post. The phone hasn't stopped ringing and our restaurant has been packed. It's absolutely incredible."
Shaa is now hoping that Ryan Reynolds enjoyed his food so much that he will call again when he is next over for a Wrexham AFC game. He said: "What I want to do is, I want to reach out to Ryan Reynolds and tell him to please come back the next time he comes to the UK and he is very welcome to sit down and enjoy a meal with us. We could even dedicate a new dish to him."
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