A curry house in London’s East End cooked up a victory last night when it was named ‘Restaurant of the Year’ at the prestigious ‘Oscars’ of the Indian cuisine trade.
The trophy went to City Spice in Brick Lane’s famous ‘Curry Mile’, handed out at a spicy evening at Park Plaza Westminster Hotel after being voted Britain’s No 1 curry house by the Bangladesh Caterers Association’s 12,000 members.
‘The King of Brick Lane’ has had celebrities like James Nesbitt, Michael Bisping and Jeff Banks dishing out their praise for its recipes and atmosphere.
“Nothing beats getting praise from your customers,” owner Abdul Ahad said. “But getting recognition from your peers in the curry trade is a great honour.
“There is a lot of competition along Brick Lane, so being able to stand out is a challenge and one we had to meet by reinventing our recipes to keep them fresh while making sure we also do the basics.”
The family-run City Spice takes inspiration from the North Indian Murghal Empire, fused with a Bangladeshi twist to create “a point of difference”, so the top chef would have it.
The award was the latest accolade for Abdul and his son Abdul Muhaimen, who picked up ‘Best Restaurant’ title at the Curry Life awards in October, received a ‘certificate of excellence’ from TripAdvisor earlier in the year and took ‘Master Chef’ title last year.
They restaurant family is now clearing the decks ready for the big Christmas Curry rush.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here