The British Curry Awards saw Bristol favourite Urban Tandoor take home a special new prize. Dubbed the 'Curry Oscars', the event saw the restaurant - which has a site on Whiteladies Road and Small Street - shortlisted for the Best in the South West category alongside The Mint Room.
It was Prithvi Restaurant in Cheltenham that took the regional title at the London ceremony on Monday night (November 28) as voted for by the public, but Urban Tandoor didn't leave the capital empty-handed, winning in a brand new category. The Clifton curry house, popular for its colourful decor and flower wall alongside its menu, was in the Diners' Choice Award, recognising the restaurant's efforts in engaging audiences on social media.
Any nominated establishment in Britain had a chance to win this award based on the highest number of live, public votes on the night. Urban Tandoor has taken Tiktok by storm this year with its most popular video attaining almost 3.5 million views. The restaurant has 30,000 followers and has earned well over one million likes across its videos.
Read more: British Curry Awards name two Bristol restaurants in the running for 2022 title
Speaking about the award owner Sujith D'almeida said: "It was a different type of award to win, it happens on the spot. People kept voting until the end at 10pm, when they closed the line. It was time for us to come back and I said 'I don't think we're winning anything let's make a move' and that's when they announced it.
"When you see the big names there you already give up. I didn't think we were in that category, we are okay in Bristol but not in the UK. It was good to be recognised all over the UK for a different twist."
Urban Tandoor beat the likes of Dishoom and Ashas, who have huge social media followings nationwide, but haven't broken through to TikTok. Sujith continued: "It shows the power of social media. We're not that big but the noise we make with our videos has gone everywhere now."
Initially, he wasn't convinced about TikTok but they quickly saw the potential early on when the team started their account in August 2021. Sujith said the whole team is involved in making the videos focusing on social media trends and current events, including Boris Johnson's resignation and Love Island UK.
"The staff like to dance and that encourages more students to work with us now. We have now created three or four jobs for the videos. What's happened is people want more of it. I can't go to that extent now, we get a lot of demand in our inboxes."
The restaurant is no stranger to awards, having won in the Fine Dining, Restaurants and Products category at the Good Food Awards 2021. In the past, it scooped Best Healthy Curry provider at the 2018 English Curry Awards and Best Restaurant In the South West at the Asian Curry Award.
Urban Tandoor's win is welcomed at another challenging time for the hospitality industry as Indian restaurants have seen their bills increase by an average of 40 per cent in recent months as ingredients costs skyrocket. The price of oil alone has increased by more than 100 per cent while the cost of other curry house essentials such as a 25kg sack of onions has now doubled to more than £14.50, a situation that is unsustainable for the industry.
Although he admitted it's a tough time for the industry, Sujith said he is remaining positive. "The worst for us was Covid, you can't get any lower than that, but what we've got in Bristol is the community spirit and everybody likes to support each other.
Even during Covid, I was thinking are we even going to open again? But what many of our guests do is they order something like Champagne, something expensive or gift vouchers, those kinds of things, to make sure we're in the market. The community won't let you collapse."
Find Urban Tandoor at 211 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2XS or 13 Small Street, Bristol, BS1 1DE
British Curry Awards 2022 winners
- Best Restaurant Scotland: Swadish by Ajay Kumar, Glasgow
- Best Restaurant North East: Khai Khai Indian Restaurant, Newcastle
- Best Restaurant North West: Mowgli Street Food Liverpool
- Best Restaurant East Midlands: Calcutta Club Restaurant, Nottingham
- Best Restaurant West Midlands: Lasan, Birmingham
- Best Restaurant Wales: Purple Poppadom, Cardiff
- Best Restaurant South East: Shampan at the Spinning Wheel, Westerham, Kent
- Best Restaurant South West: Prithvi Restaurant, Cheltenham
- Best Restaurant London Central & City: Benares, Mayfair
- Best Restaurant London Suburbs: Copper Ceylon, Bromley
- Best Takeaway: Maliks Express Kitchen, Gerrads Cross
- Best Newcomer: Colonel Saab, Holborn
- Personality of the Year Award: Khalilur Rahman
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