A restaurant in West Cumbria continues to be recognised as one of the best in the game after winning an award earlier this week.

Maryport Tandoori, an Indian restaurant on the coast, was named the best curry restaurant in the North at the Nations Curry Awards 2024 during a ceremony held in Manchester on February 12.

Owner of the restaurant, Askir Ali, has been on a roll with getting recognition for his and his restaurant’s work, and last year won the best Indian team award at the English Curry Awards 2023.

Mr Ali opened the restaurant in 1999 and has since been recognised regionally as a gem for great food and customer service.

“I found out three months ago that I was nominated, we were really happy to receive the award,” said Mr Ali.

He continued, on what he thinks makes his restaurant deserving of the recognition: “I worked hard, but a big thank you goes out to our customers – without their support, and the work of our staff, we wouldn’t have won.

In a relatively isolated part of the country, compared to bigger towns and cities with notable curry scenes like Manchester and Sheffield in the North, a strong and reliable customer base is priceless, as Mr Ali said: “My customers keep coming back, one visit and they’ll return.

“I think it’s the quality of food and customer service; and we don’t just have customers in Maryport, I’ve got followers from all over Cumbria, and even Lancaster.”

He said the customers love to see him as the figurehead of the restaurant, and if he isn’t there, he is often asked about.

This relationship has led Mr Ali to consider these loyal customers his family, ‘everyone is in my heart,’ he concluded.

A spokesperson from Maryport Business Group, from which delegates attended the ceremony, said: “Maryport Tandoori is one of the main-stay businesses in Maryport, and we are proud he has won the award.

“When he was up for an award last year there was a group of us as well as this year, and we are over the moon, it’s a well-deserved award.”