A Bridport-based restaurant has won the top spot in a national awards ceremony celebrating the best Indian cuisine in the UK.

The Sundorbon, in South Street, has won in the Best Restaurant category at the Curry Life Awards 2023 at a gala ceremony in London’s West End.

The restaurant, which opened in 1988, provides modern dining and a take-away service, delivering up to a 10-mile radius of Bridport. Mashayel took over the family business in 2019 after realising a career in finance wasn’t the right path for him.

Dorset Echo:

Over time, Mashayel and his team have worked together to create award-winning food based on customer feedback about the flavours they most enjoy. These include classic curries, such as baltis, masalas and Tandooris, and speciality dishes made with fresh ingredients delivered several times a week.

Owner Mashayel Ahmed said: “It’s an absolute honour to win a Curry Life award this year.”

Dorset Echo:

 

The Curry Life Awards 2023, which took place on Sunday, October 15, celebrated the elite in the UK's multi-billion-pound curry industry and featured 44 awards across five categories: Editor’s Choice, Best Restaurant, Best Takeaway, Best Chef and Best Recommended Restaurant.

The awards attracted an audience of more than five hundred, including beer magnate Lord Karan Bilimoria, who founded Cobra Beer and is a current House of Lords member, and representatives from headline sponsor Just Eat.

The event was also an occasion to mark an additional celebration, as 2023 is the 20th anniversary year of Curry Life magazine, the promoter of the Awards.

The awards were created by brothers Syed Pasha and Syed Ahmed, who came to the UK from Bangladesh in the 1970s and were surprised by the British appetite for curry. They launched Curry Life magazine 20 years ago, and the debut awards were held in 2009. The brothers also organise an annual British curry festival promoting Angrezi (English) curry worldwide.

Dorset Echo: Sundorbon team with Steve Double MP, Editor of Curry Life Syed Ahmed and Lord Bilimoria at far right

Speaking at the awards, Syed Pasha said: "From our humble beginnings, here we are today, the voice of a billion-pound, entrepreneurial and innovative industry, and one which contributes significantly to the UK economy. We travelled thousands of miles this year visiting restaurants up and down the country, and it made me realise precisely why the curry industry will not only survive but also thrive. It is the sheer determination, hard work, and a positive attitude from employees and employers alike and their sheer commitment to what they do.”