On Fire: Finalists in Leicester Curry Awards 2018 announced

It’s been an exciting and busy few weeks over at Curry Awards HQ and after months of nominations, the 30 finalists across six awards categories have just been announced.

Some of the city’s and county’s most popular Indian eateries attended a special event at BBC Leicester and there were smiles and applause all around as the announcement was made live on radio.

This year the awards consist of six main categories including Restaurant of the Year, Best Vegetarian Restaurant, Best Takeaway, Best Pub Restaurant, Best New Restaurant and Best Fine Dining Restaurant and each received five finalists.

Romail Gulzar, founder of The Leicester Curry Awards said: “I’m extremely happy and excited at the calibre of restaurants and takeaways that have made it into the shortlist this year. Leicestershire has an amazing standard of curry establishments and we want to share the news with the rest of the UK and get more people eating here.”

This year over 5000 nominations were made from across the city and county surpassing all expectations.

Out of the 30 finalists, half are new restaurants showing just how popular the Leicester Curry Awards is and confirming its growth and success during its second year.

The event was attended by our sponsors who, as well as rubbing shoulders with some of the best local Indian food establishments, announced the category finalists. Assistant City Mayor, Councillor Manjula Sood was also in attendance and made a short speech.

The two local charities being supported by the event, Leicestershire Action for Mental Health Project (LAMP) and Care of Police Survivors (COPS) were also there.

What happens next? Each restaurant that made it into the shortlist will be visited by a panel of mystery judges who will rate the restaurant on several different elements before deciding on one overall winner and two runners-up in each category.

The winners will then be announced at a black-tie evening gala at Athena in the city centre on Sunday 22 April where ITV Central presenter Sameena Ali-Khan will be hosting the dazzling event.

Guests to the event will be treated to a welcome drinks reception, a sumptuous three-course Indian meal and a whole host of colourful entertainment and live music.

Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @LeicesterCurry to keep updated with the latest Leicester Curry Awards news and views.

We’d just like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to BBC Radio Leicester and Sophie Shadlow for helping us put this event together.

Finalists 2018