A KEIGHLEY restaurant was among the winners of the second annual Bradford Curry Awards.

Shimla Spice, in South Street, picked up the award for Best Customer Service, presented during a ceremony to honour the district’s curry heritage.

From more than 90 entries and thousands of nominations, eight curry restaurants in Keighley and Bradford went home with nine awards, after winning categories at the ceremony in Cedar Court Hotel last Tuesday. (April 9)

Responding to his business’s success Faisal Hussain, Shimla Spice managing director, said: “It’s a great achievement to receive this award at such a big ceremony involving so many top Bradford restaurants. We see it as a real honour.

“We’ve already won a lot of other regional and national awards, including Best Indian Restaurant in England, and this is yet another to add to that long list.

“To have a great restaurant you need great customer service. Our staff are really happy and this is dedicated to them for their hard work.

“It was a brilliant awards evening and a good opportunity to meet other restaurateurs and talk business.”

Mr Hussain said Brexit came up frequently during conversation at the evening, adding the unresolved issue was inflicting a lot of uncertainty on restaurant owners, who fear the impact it will have on their trade.

Shimla Spice in Keighley has been operating since 1998. Since then it has expanded to launch a branch in Shipley in 2006 and Burnley in 2014.

Bradford has held the Curry Capital of Britain title for six year’s running, so the local awards were launched last year to promote pride in Keighley and Bradford and profile the food industry.

More than 300 people attended the awards ceremony where they were treated to a banquet of street food and a selection of curries, followed by refreshments courtesy of Regal Foods Plc.

The event was compered by Hardeep Singh Kohli, a TV personality, chef and comedian.

Bradford Curry Awards founder and director Fatima Patel introduced the event and thanked everyone for their support and their contribution to the local economy.

She said: “Congratulations to all winners, everyone in the curry industry deserves to be celebrated.

“They contribute so much to our economy and I’m really delighted we’ve had another successful year celebrating the industry’s achievements.”

Ms Patel also highlighted this year’s theme as being the need to be more aware of the issue of food wastage.