Silver honour spices up life for restaurant team

STAFF from an Indian restaurant are celebrating after securing a silver award at a top ceremony.

Denleys Essence of India, in Topsham, was awarded a Silver 4 Star Plaque at the fifth British Curry Awards after being listed in the top 100 Indian restaurants in the UK.

A total of 12,000 Indian restaurants were nominated and nine of the finalists were from the South West.

The restaurant won the Exeter Curry Competition for its tamarind chicken.

It is run by Jamil Miah, 35, who opened the business nine years ago.

Mr Miah said: "We are delighted that we were listed in the top 100 Indian restaurants in the UK.

"At The British Curry awards, we were presented with a Silver 4 Star Plaque for being the best in the South West, which we will proudly display in the restaurant.

"Next year we aim to get into the Top 10 restaurants.

"It was an amazing evening and my staff enjoyed meeting David Cameron, Chris Tarrant, Trevor McDonald, David Jensen and Max Clifford."

The restaurant has also been in the news for flying its curry to a customer in Dubai, who had put in a special request.

England and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James is also a fan.

Mr Miah, who has revamped the premises from top to bottom, said to get through the preliminary stages, the restaurant had to be nominated by customers. It sent in a variety of menus at different prices and a wine list. There was then a questionnaire and, ultimately, a mystery judge checked the food on offer.

The overall winner of the awards, which were held in London on Tuesday, was Rajpott Restaurant in Bath.