A city entrepreneur has exported the very best of Leicester halfway round the world.
Romail Gulzar is doing his best to repeat the success of the Leicester Curry Awards - which he has been running for three years now - in the Canadian city of Toronto.
Leicester was the obvious choice to launch the annual celebration of Asian food, thanks to its big Asian community and high number of restaurants and takeaways.
The city’s third annual Leicester Curry Awards took place at the Athena in April and saw six category winners announced including Restaurant of the Year, Best Vegetarian Restaurant, Best Takeaway and Best New Restaurant.
Those winners were Masalas, in Uppingham Road, Paddy’s Marten Inn, in Martin Street, Leicester, Chai Paani, in Belgrave Road, Soi, in Melton, and Spice Bazzar, in Welford Road, Leicester.
The 2019 restaurant of the year was Mumbai Inn, in De Montfort Street, Leicester.
Romail, who runs Pukaar news agency in Phoenix Square, said: “What a spectacular night! I love hosting this event because it really celebrates what the city and county is known for and that’s a great curry.”
So when Romail wanted to launch a new competition across the Pond he looked for somewhere that was ripe for the picking, choosing the city of Toronto which sits on Lake Ontario’s northwestern shore.
Most Read
He organised the first Toronto curry contest in 2018, following a 2017 launch, and this year’s awards were due to be revealed during a black tie ceremony at the Holiday Inn Toronto International Airport on June 3.
Romail also recently announced the launch of a Coventry curry awards, extending the franchise across the Midlands.
He said the Canadian awards were launched to celebrate the Greater Toronto Area’s “vibrant” South Asian culture and spotlight one of the country’s top culinary curry destinations.
Romail added: “The Leicester awards have been crazy. The first year that we launched I was panicking about selling enough tickets for the night, but we sold out within three days.
“It attracts hundreds of people and it’s been a big thing for us, and this year there were more nominations from Rutland and the wider county which was good.
“Personally I think the standard has been getting higher. There’s a real choice of places to eat in the county and the city centre – I think we are spoilt for choice.
“We’re always very honest with the judging and always take into account thinks like hygiene, service, food quality and value for money, and we are now looking at disabled access.
Don’t miss
“The restaurants that take part are very, very good because they know the quality of the competition is so strong.
“I understand how with Brexit people are worried about how it was going to affect the cost of things like nights out, but generally I think that if the price of a meal has to go up by 50p people will be willing to pay if they are getting the right quality.”
He said the Coventry award will tie in with the city’s 2021 City of Culture status and he feels the awards are a brand that can be shared even further afield.
He said: “Leicester is the curry capital and we want to shout about that and wave the flag.”
Romail travelled to Toronto in 2014 and 2015 and visited two neighbouring cities called Mississauga and Brampton.
He said: “People in many of these areas have big houses and lots of land and big cars, and these are where the South Asian communities are.
“Parts are the equivalent of Leicester’s Golden Mile. They are a very new arrival out there but they are growing quickly.
“Brampton is like a mini-India and that’s what hooked me.
“Having said that, when you ask a typical Canadian about curry they do not think South Asian, but Carribean or Chinese.
“So we want to do something about that and promote all the South Asian restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area.
“We are sharing an office in Toronto and will be building up our news agency there too with the launch of a magazine next year.
“Toronto is growing and is the right destination to be in. It’s also a great place to raise the Leicester flag.”
Romail added: “I do believe Leicester curries are the best.
“I’ve eaten at 300 Greater Toronto restaurants over the last few years, including takeaways, and I tell Leicester owners if they want to branch out they should go to Toronto.
“A good Indian pub/restaurant would do very well.”