Popular Indian restaurant in Leamington is named best in the West Midlands in national awards

A popular Indian restaurant in Leamington has been named as the best in the West Midlands in a major national awards.

Paprika Club in Regent Street was the winner of the Asian Restaurant of The Year West Midlands category in the Asian Curry Awards 2023.

The multi award-winning family-run restaurant, which has been serving authentic Indian food in Leamington for almost 30 years, has signature dishes include tandoori-baked king prawns (Jhinga La Jawab), Sylhetic Special chicken with scotch bonnet, aromatic Lasani chicken curry with sweet and sour flavours, yoghurt, mint and pineapple.

It also serves the chef’s favourite Beef Laziz and the Maharaja Special chicken tikka with spiced minced meat and peppers.

It has been refurbished to a very high standard in recent years and is clearly one of the most highly regarded Indian restaurants in the town and the wider surrounding area.

Owner Mohammed Azad told the Courier: “Last year I was in Bangladesh with my son and I was due to take a flight back to England that day but he’d convinced me to stay for longer.

"I was feeling unwell, so a few hours before the flight I had been booked on took off I went to the doctor instead and had a heart attack in front of him.

"It could have happened while I was on the flight so that decision to stay probably saved my life.

"For that to have happened to me makes winning this award and being able to receive it in person this month even more special.

"Money comes and goes in this industry but what I really like to see is our customers coming back again and again and for many of them becoming friends over the years.

"That’s what makes us all so proud of what we have achieved here.”

The Asian Curry Awards are dubbed the 'Curry Oscars' and cover Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese restaurants.

Notable inclusions this year were fine dining venues Amaya, Babur, Benares, Cinnamon Club, Colonel Saab, Dulwich Heritage, Four Seasons, Hakkasan, Indian Essence, Jamavar, Quilon, Royal China, in London; Saffron Summer and Tahli Ho in Surrey; Shampan @ the Spinning Wheel and Cook’s Tale in Kent, Navadhanya in Cambridge.

More than 200 venues across the country were shortlisted then whittled down to the top 100 by online votes from members of the public.

These restaurants were then assessed by a panel of judges from the Asian Catering Federation (ACF) to decide the category winners. The winners were announced at a glittering gala event at the Grosvenor House in London on Sunday November 19, hosted by BBC news anchor Samantha Simmonds.

In 2021 and 2022, Paprika Club was voted as the nation's Best Curry Restaurant in the Curry Life Awards.

This year it also received an award for excellent service from Restaurant Guru and it boasts ratings above 4 out of five across several review websites including an average of 4.5 out of more than 540 reviews on Tripadvisor.

Paprika Club is serving a Christmas Menu on Christmas Day.

For more information about Paprika Club visit paprikaclub.co.uk