The winners of last year’s Leicestershire Curry Awards are looking forward to defending their titles at this year’s event, as nominations open for the annual culinary celebration.
Nominations for the sixth annual Leicestershire Curry Awards 2023 opened earlier today (May 9), in eight mouth watering categories.
They are; ‘Restaurant of the Year’, ‘Best Pub Restaurant’, ‘Best Vegetarian Restaurant’, ‘Best Fine Dining Restaurant’, ‘Best Takeaway’, ‘Best Street Food’ and ‘Best New Restaurant’ (which has been trading for less than three years).
New for this year is a brand new category; ‘Best Indian Catering’.
Naz Miah, owner of Dine India was the winner of last year’s coveted ‘Restaurant of the Year’ award.
He said he was looking forward to defending the title if his restaurant is nominated again this year.
“We’d love to be the first restaurant to defend the title. Nobody else has done it (in this category) so it’s definitely something to aim for!” he told the Leicester Times.
“Winning this category was amazing and it would be great to do it again. The competition was tough which made the victory even better. It’s definitely boosted our profile,” he added.
Muzahid of Anika Balti Express is also looking forward to taking part and defending the title of ‘Best Takeaway,’ which he won in 2020/21, and again in 2022.
“Winning back to back was a big achievement and we were able to do this thanks to our loyal customers,” he said.
“It’s definitely helped to raise our profile and we’re excited to take part again this year, in the hope of possibly securing a hat-trick!”
This year has seen the previously named ‘Leicester Curry Awards’ undergo a rebrand, in order to reflect the fact that the competition’s now open up to restaurants and takeaways across the county as opposed to just the city.
In 2023 the ‘Leicestershire Curry Awards’ will see two winners named in each category; one from the city and one from the county.
Public voting will decide the top five restaurants in each category. It’s then over to a panel of mystery judges, who will each be assigned a number of the top five restaurants/takeaways in each category to judge against a strict criteria.
“This year’s competition looks set to be the most hotly contested to date, due to the vast number of entries we are expecting,” said Romail Gulzar, founder of the competition.
“I’m looking forward to seeing more entries than ever before after opening it up to the whole of Leicestershire!
“If you have a favourite Indian restaurant that does a brilliant biryani or a delicious daal, then now’s your chance to nominate them and show your appreciation!”
Nominations for this year’s Leicestershire Curry Awards are open until July 24.
Tickets for the event, which takes place at Leicester’s Athena are now on sale at: www.leicestercurryawards.com/ticket-sales/
The annual red carpet event includes reception drinks, a three-course dinner and live entertainment.
To make a nomination, visit: https://leicestercurryawards.com/mynomination/
