There was delight for Newcastle restaurant My Delhi on Tuesday night when it served up a victory on a new BBC cooking show.
Since it opened in 2019, the Clayton Street haunt has become a real favourite and no-one was more thrilled to see it triumph on Britain's Top Takeaway than its regular customers, who rushed to social media to congratulate staff as well as heralding a well deserved victory for them.
Britain's Top Takeaways, which started on BBC2 on Monday night, sees some of the nation's top eateries going head to head in a showdown that crowns a different winner each episode. Each stand-alone episode of the programme, hosted by Sara Cox, features a different takeaway, from Indian to Chinese, kebabs to fish and chips. Chefs from each eatery then cook up their favourite dishes, from a menu including a classic dish, chef’s special, a vegan option and sides, in a kitchen studio in Manchester, with the food then delivered to local households who will score and judge that episode's winner.
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Shah and Gaurav from My Delhi, which will also soon open in Sunderland, aimed to cook up a storm on Tuesday, facing competition from Sabzi in Edinburgh, takeaway business Curry on Naanstop, The Indians Next Door, run by a London-based mother and Bradford's Sweet Centre Restaurant, which even the Queen has tried.
In a break from tradition to most TV cookery shows, rather than the final result being decided by food critics, the winners were determined by families who the dishes were delivered to, with them casting their votes after tucking in from the comfort of their own homes.
Guest judges came from Manchester Village Spartans Rugby Club and in a bid to impress their customers, My Delhi put their faith in three of their regulars' top rate dishes, Butter Chicken 1950s, Railway Station Lamb Curry and Cauliflower Manchurian. And they were right to, as they earned a final score of 28, after receiving a perfect core from one of the families and the rugby players, finishing eight points ahead of their nearest rival.
Prior to their episode airing, Executive Chef Gaurav Dayal said: “For Chefs, these moments are an ultimate test of your skills. Even choosing the dishes for the menu that you’re going to present on a national TV show was a challenge in itself.
“In the end we went with the dishes that our diners love the most, Butter Chicken 1950s, Railway Station Lamb Curry and Cauliflower Manchurian. We never got to see what the households thought of our food so I’m looking forward to watching their reactions for the first time."
Reacting to My Delhi's win, one of their Newcastle regulars tweeted: "Absolutely well deserved win for
@MyDelhiUK on #britainstoptakeaways outstanding food. The butter chicken and railway lamb are fabulous."
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