Newcastle Indian restaurant scoops top prize at Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards 2022

A North East restaurant has been awarded a top gong at the country's largest celebration of Britain's best Asian eateries.

The Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards 2022 was held in London on Sunday 2 October, recognising the best in South Asian cuisine across the UK.

My Delhi Indian Streetery, which has venues in Newcastle and Sunderland, beat more than 2,300 other restaurants to take home awards for both regional and national Chef of the Year 2022.

Gaurav Dayal is the executive chef at the street-food restaurant. Originally from Delhi, Mr Dayal studied cookery in India 20 years ago and joined the My Delhi team when it opened in 2019.

He said: "We went with hopes and inspiration but we didn't expect the result to go so much in our favour so we are overwhelmed."

Elahi Shah Amin, director of My Delhi said: "We are so delighted. We knew from the beginning when we met him how special he was and how much of a brilliant chef he was but to have this recognised on a national stage and to bring it back up to Newcastle and Sunderland is great."

Restaurants were awarded based on quality of food, service and value for money. Factors including food hygiene ratings and reviews from websites like TripAdvisor and Google are also taken into account.

Restaurants that made it through the first phase were then invited to participate in a cook-off competition. The score included various factors including flavour, appearance, texture, hygiene, and aroma.

Chef Gaurav impressed judges with a deconstructed dish based on the classic Butter Chicken curry.

He said: "A cook-off is a real test of your skills so it is a great victory for a chef. A victory of the plate is a victory of what I've learnt over 20 years."

When asked what the key to brilliant Indian cooking is, he added: "It is a patience game. It is not like a Chinese stir-fry. Your onions don't sweat, they brown and caramalise. Your tomatoes need to be pureed not sauteed, so Indian cooking is all about patient cooking, that is the secret. Put the flame on medium, cook with patience and the result will be on your table."

The awards ceremony also touched on the hardships faced by the hospitality industry at the moment with spiralling costs of energy, inflation and the lasting impact of the pandemic.

Elahi said: "We're just mega thrilled, excited, motivated, inspired to do much more. We got through Covid. We had to diversify, we fought and we got through the pandemic and now we've got the cost of living to be faced with, but things like the awards really motivate you and bring that positivity back."

Salik Mohammed Munim, founder of the ARTA Awards, said: "The cost of energy crisis is a real threat to the sector, and many are faced with the prospect of closing doors after having served their local communities and patrons for decades.

"This has been a back-to-back assault on the sector, which was recently reeling and recovering from the pandemic. It was a poignant moment for us all, to be together and extend moral support and well-wishes."

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