Curry House of the Year 2016: Bengal Brasserie crowned champions

The Bengal Brasserie, in Victoria Court, has only been open for five years but has built up an enviable reputation in that short time, so much so that it was voted the best by our readers.

On hearing the news of being voted our Curry House of the Year, Bengal Brasserie co-owner Malik Dobir said: “It is a wonderful achievement and we feel so happy. We will celebrate tonight.

“It is a fantastic achievement to have the recognition from people that feel something for our restaurant.

“We would like to say thank you to all who have voted for us.”

He added: “The initiative of the Advertiser competition has served to highlight nice places to eat in the area and we are grateful of that.”

The Bengal Brasserie opened in Wetherby in 2012 but Mr Dobir had opened his first restaurant in Leeds in 1989.

The secret to their success is having one of Yorkshire’s best curry chefs, according to Mr Dobir.

And because of this, winning awards is not new to the Wetherby business, which has a staff of 15, as co-owner and chef Mohan Miah was named Best Curry Chef in Curry Life magazine’s contest in 2012.

Readers were asked to vote for who should be given the coveted crown of the best curry house in the area.

They were asked to take into consideration what it was that gave them the edge over rivals and best served customers.

“Thanks to the strength of this year’s entrants we’ve had hundreds of votes registered for the curry houses that featured in the top ten,” said editor Jean MacQuarrie.

“We thank everyone who participated and hope that they all enter again next year to see if they can win in 2017.”

Runner-up was the Starbeck Tandoori and in third place was Spice 4 U of Wetherby.

The competition produced ten finalists who were judged by readers for food, service, value and ambience.

Finalists were: Bengal Brasserie, Victoria Court, Wetherby; Cardamom Black, Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate; Jinnah Restaurant, Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate; Kinara Indian Restaurant, Cheltenham Crescent, Harrogate; Motiraj Contemporary, High Skellgate, Ripon; Shalimar, Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate; Spice 4 U, North Street, Wetherby; Spice Merchant, Castlegate, Knaresborough; Starbeck Tandoori, High Street, Starbeck, Harrogate; Zolsha Indian Restaurant, High Street, Knaresborough.