A BRADFORD restaurant owner has spoken of his journey after an action-packed month which has seen two award wins and a conversation with King Charles III.
Mohammed Yasin – who runs Sizzling Lounge in Bingley – is the talk of the town after meeting King Charles, winning a Yorkshire Asian Young Achiever (YAYA) award - and taking home the title of Yorkshire’s best restaurant.
This is despite Yasin, who lives in the Otley Road area, growing up in a refugee camp and being forced to work seven days a week to provide for his ill mother and his siblings.
Yasin, 26, was one of several YAYA nominees who met the King during his visit to Bradford last month.
He then scooped the Young Entrepreneur Award at the YAYAs five days later.
Sizzling Lounge then won the Best Restaurant in Yorkshire at the Asian Food and Restaurant Awards on December 5.
“These have been amazing, unforgettable moments,” Yasin said.
“It’s a great feeling. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the lovely community of Bingley.”
Yasin’s journey has been far from easy, however.
He is Rohingya, an ethnic group indigenous to Myanmar, which is one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
Yasin was born in a refugee camp in Bangladesh and, like most of the city’s Rohingya community, moved to Bradford through the City of Sanctuary scheme in 2009, when he was 13.
He was met with racism and couldn’t speak any English before his mum, who was still in Bangladesh at the time, suffered life-changing injuries in a road traffic accident.
She has since joined him in Bradford and when not working, Yasin is her carer.
“There have been many sacrifices. It’s been challenging, I never thought we’d come this far,” he said.
“I want to be a role model and show that, through hard work, nothing is impossible.”
Yasin added that Sizzling Lounge has faced challenges of its own.
“We opened in lockdown and didn’t have a chance to introduce ourselves, and we only had four staff,” he explained.
“Now we have 15, and – for reviews – we’ve gone from 40th in Bingley to being ranked second.”
On meeting the King, Yasin added: “We had a good conversation about my business and life in Bingley.
“It was great to meet him. We shook hands and shared smiles.
“This country gave my family a better life. Bradford is our hometown now.
“Sizzling Lounge will keep providing quality food and service and hopefully we can collect more awards in the future.”
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