THE RESTAURATEUR behind the Jinnah curry house chain has told of his pride after scooping two prestigious awards.

CEO Saleem Akhtar was called down to London for the Asian Food and Restaurant Awards after judges disguised as customers carried out an undercover taste test.

Three branches - believed to be those in Bradford, York and Harrogate - were tested on their ambience, customer service and, most importantly, flavours and quality of food.

Held at the Hilton Hotel, Mr Akhtar not only won the national title of group of the year but also the award for regional restaurant of the year.

As he proudly looked at his prizes, Mr Akhtar told the Telegraph & Argus: "These restaurants are big so a small name in Yorkshire has gone out there and beat them. I've come top on that.

"I'm really proud of that.

"No way I could have dreamt of getting the group award. Aagrah's bigger than me, Akbar's bigger than me.

"I'm really chuffed to bits with them. I thank all my customers and all my staff who did the hard work with me to achieve this with me."

Mr Akhtar believes his success is due to the small but important things.

Food must match the high quality, fresh and homemade flavours that many of his customers enjoy at home and expect from restaurants.

But it's been no easy feat with many menu and recipe changes over the years in a bid to create perfection.

"I'm the only restaurateur who stays at his establishment seven days a week," he says.

Mr Akhtar - who opened his Bradford branch in 2015 - says the district's curry offer is unmatched with anywhere else in the UK and it's all about the spices.

Spices are shipped from Pakistan to Bradford before being distributed to food venues around the country.

Mr Akhtar says this fuels the competition to win over customers looking for curry in the district.

"You've just got to keep doing something in Bradford to stay in the market. We do it.

"People are more vocal, people are more open. They've got more confidence in themselves. Bradford is a curry capital of the country and Bradford people know what they want.

"You would not believe the herbs and spices come from Pakistan and India and to Bradford. Bradford is an exporter of all the curry industry herbs and spices.

"Bradford industry brings business into Bradford," Mr Akhtar explained.

And it's these areas of expertise that he feels we need to start "cashing in on", sharing how between 500 to 2,000 people enter his restaurant each week but have limited things to do in the evening.

The CEO has previously called for more evening events for those in town for a curry.

Speaking in October for National Curry Week, he said: "We should have different types of activities around the city through the day. They can make an evening out of it.

"We've been Curry Capital of the Year for the last six years. We've got people from all over the country coming to Bradford."