Bradford is crowned England's Curry Capital but loses out to Glasgow for British title

Mohammed Gulbhar and Mohammed Akhtar cheer the win Buy this photo » Mohammed Gulbhar and Mohammed Akhtar cheer the win

Bradford has been crowned England’s Curry Capital after a highly-praised campaign by restaurants across the district.

The Bradford Council-backed bid came a whisker away from capturing the Curry Capital of Britain prize – beaten by only two points by Glasgow.

Bradford was commended for having the most “innovative submission” for its cinema-themed bid, created to reflect its status as Unesco’s world City of Film.

Competition organiser Peter Groves said yesterday: “Bradford presented the most creative bid out of all the cities, drawing on several aspects of the city to fully illustrate the impact curry houses and their culture have on the region and their local community.”

A DVD featured the four restaurants chosen to represent Bradford: Lahore Cafe Bar in Bradford, Azeems in Keighley and Aagrah and Shimla Spice in Shipley.

Mohammed Aslam, executive chef and managing director of the Aagrah group of restaurants, said: “Britain’s passion with spicy Asian food has reached a new high and when it comes to curries Bradford is the culinary hot spot for the country. This award is great news for the city of Bradford.”

Lahore Cafe Bar managing director Asghar Ali said: “I feel Bradford should have been number one. The bid Bradford put in was fantastic and the offer we have is second to none. It’s got the most restaurants and the best quality.”

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Director of Azeems Barkat Ali said: “We are very pleased, there is always room for next time. We were up against quite good restaurants. I think we deserved to come first, everyone really put a lot of effort in.”

Faisal Hussain, a manager at Shimla Spice, said: “There’s no curry in the UK like in Bradford, the best curries are here. We’re still the best in England. I think Bradford still is the curry capital. Next year we have got a definite chance.”

Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers said: “There is such diversity in the city and it is fantastic to see the public and the businesses which make Bradford the place it is today coming together to demonstrate just how good the city and its curry truly is.”

Comments(17)

Idler60 says...
11:39am Thu 9 Dec 10

At last something positive about Bradford. Will the council manage to put a negative spin on it

albion says...
11:46am Thu 9 Dec 10

Idler60 wrote:
At last something positive about Bradford. Will the council manage to put a negative spin on it
No, as they are all busy queueing for the loo after celebrating it.

curse says...
12:13pm Thu 9 Dec 10

Bradford? Since when have Shipley & Keighley been in Bradford?

ive returned says...
12:30pm Thu 9 Dec 10

curse wrote:
Bradford? Since when have Shipley & Keighley been in Bradford?
Take it you live under a stone and dont venture out much,the question should be why are nearly all the curry houses in areas that resemble the third world.

truthbeknown says...
1:11pm Thu 9 Dec 10

ive returned wrote:
curse wrote:
Bradford? Since when have Shipley & Keighley been in Bradford?
Take it you live under a stone and dont venture out much,the question should be why are nearly all the curry houses in areas that resemble the third world.
i take it you are referring to your own area(eccleshill)...c
ouldn't agree more with you....I think if you lifted that judgemental stone from your head you may see things in different perpective ;)

Brent_Meister says...
1:43pm Thu 9 Dec 10

2nd place? - oh well... better than nothing.

Saltaire Bantam says...
2:12pm Thu 9 Dec 10

I went to Shimla spice and didn't think much of it. Prashad and Aagrah are better.

BD16 says...
2:55pm Thu 9 Dec 10

Saltaire Bantam wrote:
I went to Shimla spice and didn't think much of it. Prashad and Aagrah are better.
I've always preferred the sweet centre or the Karachi myself. Some of the bigger chains look more to presentation rather than the food.
I always think if you see knives and forks on a table you will pay too much and the food quality won't be as good.

puddin says...
4:08pm Thu 9 Dec 10

what about the karachi (neal st) best curry by miles

Jaz999 says...
4:18pm Thu 9 Dec 10

I rate the shimla in shipley very high, food standard is toop notch, its won best restaurant in bradford 2008 and 2009, and for 2010 its won, best restaurant in yorkshire, by the biggest food critics in the U.K, Rated no.1 for me, i recommend the DESI dishes very highley, try the dishes for yourselfs.

sexysam says...
4:31pm Thu 9 Dec 10

Sunrise in Otley Rd is the best by a mile. Good food and eat as much as you want for £6. Its clean and tidy and not smelly like some curry houses.

International in Morley St is another good one.

Infact I rcommend people go where they see a lot of Asians going for their curries, as that is agood sign of proper and real quality curry

lecutus says...
5:28pm Thu 9 Dec 10

I miss the restaurants in Bradford! They have second rate ones mostly where I live... all mild, bland stuff... Even the Indian style pizzas we have in Bradford are yummy... Miss it all badly.

allannicho says...
5:45pm Thu 9 Dec 10

Not like Wool though is it? only
makes individuals rich, cannot export it.

Windyass says...
6:14pm Thu 9 Dec 10

allannicho wrote:
Not like Wool though is it? only
makes individuals rich, cannot export it.
Could export the gas I produce after eating one. :-)

Some good news for Bradford at last.

Prisoner Cell Block A says...
11:03pm Thu 9 Dec 10

Totally agree sam, great value and the lamb on the bone is especially nice. I also loved the international when I used to walk from tumblers for a taxi. There was another a little higher up the road which closed, that was also great food but I forget the name now.

DCarbz says...
7:15am Fri 10 Dec 10

This reminds me of those choices one had to make in days gone past.

Beatles or Stones?

City or Avenue?

Kashmir or Karachi?

Once made the decision stayed forever.

yangy8 says...
9:36am Fri 10 Dec 10

Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers said: “There is such diversity in the city and it is fantastic to see the public and the businesses which make Bradford the place it is today coming together to demonstrate just how good the city and its curry truly is.”

yeah, a dump!
curry might be nice but the town is a joke.
curry is only thing that makes money but too many so can't all be making money.
what happened to people who remember bradford that used to be a vibrant place to go?
Reverend Paul Flowers obviously is not one of them.

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