What’s your curry order? Do you prefer a cool korma, or a spicy vindaloo? According to YouGov, Indian is the nation’s second favourite takeaway (behind Chinese), so whatever your spice tolerance chances are you love a good curry now and again. There are great Indian restaurants up and down the country, but where is the very best?
Enter: The English Curry Awards. Run by Oceanic Awards, the annual competition exists to ‘celebrate the rich tapestry of flavours that the curry industry brings to the English culinary landscape’, and was held on August 11 in Birmingham. It recognises the best places in each English region, as well as one overall national champion. The competition is fierce, and the food is delicious, but only one may come away with the trophy.
This year, the top prize went to Sherkhan of Alnwick, a locally beloved restaurant and take-away in Northumberland which was also named, naturally, best in the northeast. This isn’t a first for Sherkhan – it also won the awards’ ‘best restaurant in England’ prize back in 2022. In 2024 is was shortlisted for the regional award but narrowly missed out, so it’s especially exciting to see Sherkhan return to form this year.
After the ceremony, the team at Sherkhan announced their success on Facebook saying ‘We have done it AGAIN!!... This award is for all our lovely customers from Northumberland and throughout the whole of the country.’
With a near five-star rating on TripAdvisor, customer reviews often mention the quality of both the food and service. One recent review described receiving an ‘extremely friendly reception’ and another declared that they could ‘can safely say it’s been the best curry we have had in Northumberland over the last 4 years’.
Elsewhere, Lavang in Solihull was named the best curry house in the West Midlands. Describing itself as a ‘culinary haven of South East Asian cuisine’, it has a perfect rating on TripAdvisor, and, according to recent visitors ‘amazing food’. In the southwest Mattancherry claimed the trophy from the market town of Taunton, and the Bengal Lounge, which specialises in seafood, was crowned for Yorkshire and the Humber.
Here’s the full list of regional and city winners from the 2025 English Curry Awards:
- North West: Aroma Asian Restaurant, Burnley
- North East: Sher Khan, Alnwick
- Yorkshire and the Humber: Bengal Lounge, Wetherby
- East Midlands: Khandan Restaurant, Wellingborough
- West Midlands: Lavang, Solihull)
- Midlands: Everest Lounge, Market Harborough
- East of England: Spice Valley, Norwich
- South East: Spice Route, Andover
- South West: Mattancherry, Taunton
City awards
- Newcastle: Sanskrit Newcastle
- Manchester: Spice n Spirits
- Leeds: Delhi Wala Food
- Liverpool: Da Mount Gurkha
- Sheffield: Prithiraj
- Nottingham: Anoki Restaurant
- Birmingham: Titash
- Southampton: Padharo Indian Restaurant
- London: Masala Inn
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