Leicester Curry Awards 2017 took place back in April at the Athena in Leicester, as hundreds turned out to celebrate the best of what the city has got to offer when it comes down to curry.
Seven months later, owners from restaurants across the city who were lucky enough to pick up one of the awards, say their business is better than ever thanks to Leicester Curry Awards.
As nominations for Leicester Curry Awards 2018 start to open, we decided to talk to the winners of 2017 to find out how their victory has changed their business.
Ahmed Wahid from Bombay Bites, won Best Takeaway 2017, which he described as a “fantastic accolade”:
“The fact that we can claim we are Leicester Curry Awards’ best takeaway of 2017, I think that is a fantastic accolade to have, to be able to share it with our customers and to share it with our social media.
“That (the award) gives you credibility which is very important in the food business.”
Whilst the winner of the Best Fine Dining Restaurant 2017 award was Shimla Pinks. Meeten Patel from the restaurant says he’s seen new customers coming in to try his food.
“We’ve had a lot of new customers come in and they have wanted to try the food because they’ve wanted to know what it’s all about, how we did win the award and all of our existing customers have been coming in and congratulating us on the fact that we won.
“Every restaurant that can take part, should take part because it challenges you to stay at your best all the time,” said Meeteen.
Chutney Ivy picked up the Restaurant of the Year 2017 award, which they say means more to them than any other award:
“More than anything else, winning the Leicester Curry Awards has meant more because it is by local people for local businesses and nothing has made me feel more proud, to be recognised by our peers and our customers.
“Business-wise, we have seen an upsurge in business, especially round the Easter and summer time which is usually a quiet time for us so I can only put it down for being restaurant of the year,” Shaf Islam from Chutney Ivy explained.
Nominations for Leicester Curry Awards 2018 are now open and nominations are taken through the Leicester Curry Awards 2018 website.
