Young Chef Delivers Winning Formula
THE SPICE Cube in Mountsorrel has carried off the top restaurant prize at the first-ever Loughborough Curry Festival.
The two runners-up in the best restaurant category were Taste of India, of Churchgate, Loughborough and Tandoori Empire in High Street, Quorn.
There was also a prize for the best takeaway and that went to Noorjahan in Leicester Road, Mountsorrel.
The festival, organised by Charnwood Borough Council in partnership with Loughborough College, was designed to promote local businesses as well as reward those restaurants serving up the best grub.
Enamul Hussain, 22-year-old chef at the Spice Cube in Loughborough Road, has revealed he was called in to cook on the night of the judging at the last minute when head chef Bablu Rahman was taken ill.
He admitted: “I was a bit nervous but it did give me a chance to shine and everyone involved at the Spice Cube is over the moon about winning the best restaurant title.”
Mr Hussain prepared signature dishes using a sweet lime from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh as well as a Bengali chicken dish.
He said: “I have been interested in cooking since I was a young boy and used to watch my family working in the kitchen.
“I guess it is something I have a real passion for but I learn something every day from Bablu and our other chef here, Monshad Choudhury.”
More than 2,000 votes had been cast in the search for Loughborough’s top curry house in the first-ever festival of its kind in the Borough.
A total of 14 restaurants and five takeaways gave diners voting forms as part of the festival, which was launched last month by the Borough Council and the College.
The top three restaurants as voted for by the public were then visited by a judging panel and the winners and shortlist will be revealed at the award evening at Loughborough College.
They were identified by calculating the average score taken from the feedback forms which asked the diners to rate the business on the following five criteria, food quality, menu variety, service, atmosphere and price.
One customer wrote about the Spice Cube: “Friends from Bournemouth came to visit, tried it, loved it and wanted to take some home with them!”
The judging panel was made up of Councillor David Slater, leader of Charnwood Borough Council, Darren Creed, of Loughborough College, Jake Karia, of Global Fine Foods and guest chef Alex Capau.
Cllr Slater said: “I thought the event was a brilliant success. The Curry Festival is one of several events arising from the authority’s Corporate Plan and I was delighted to hear that participating restaurants had gained custom over the three weeks of the festival.
“It was an opportunity for all participating restaurants to showcase their skills to new and existing customers.”
Cllr Slater also thanked all the festival partners, including ADT Taxis and Signature Trading for their support as well as the extensive coverage given to the event by the Loughborough Echo newspaper.
Darren Creed, who is Hospitality Team Leader at Loughborough College ,said: “Our involvement is all about forging new partnerships with the local community.
“We are currently applying to be a centre of excellence for Asian and Oriental cuisine, so we can offer more qualifications including apprenticeships. We see this as having mutual benefits for ourselves and the local restaurants.”
Mr Karia, of Global Fine Foods, said he saw in all the finalists a passion for food which compares favourably to restaurants in London.
Councillor Jitu Choudhury said the festival idea had come from an event to raise awareness about Bangladeshi culture which was held at Loughborough Town Hall and added; “We have some of the best food on the market in our Indian restaurants.”
