The average Brit will splash out £20 a month cooking Indian food at home, according to new research. They will also fork out £31.44 eating the spicy dishes in restaurants over the same period, according to The 2013 Cobra Good Curry Guide. This means that over a 50-year period we will each spend £30,864 on curries. And, despite the recession, the guide claims curry houses are thriving as the UK refuses to give up its favourite food.
The UK’s 9,000 Indian Restaurants and Balti Houses attract 2.5 million customers a week, according to Curry Club statistics. And the curry sector is worth about £777 million each year, despite a fall of 20 per cent since the economic downturn began.
But Pat Chapman, author of the Guide is confident the industry will ride out the current recession:
“There is doom and gloom being talked about all restaurants including ‘Indian’. They’re being hit by the recession like everyone else. But in the long run it will be good for the sector. We will see weaker restaurants go to the wall. But those that offer good food, good service and good value will survive.”
The Cobra Good Curry Guide 2013
Now available, the completely new 11th edition of the Cobra Good Curry Guide identifies the nation’s favourite food at 1,000 favourite venues. The Guide was established in 1983, is in its 30th year, and Cobra have been its exclusive sponsor continuously since 1992. It is the only in-print national critical guide and is regarded by media and the restaurants alike as the definitive work of its kind.
The Guide’s strap line is “Britain’s Top Restaurants as chosen by you”, and the information is compiled with the help of hundreds of members of the public, all of whom are listed in full and many of whom have been reliably reporting for years. No anonymity here!
The A5 size paperback has 384 full colour pages, enhanced with dozens of colour pictures of restaurants and their food. Each restaurant entry contains details on food style, quality, price, service, vegetarian availability, BYO, takeaway info, home delivery service and more. New features include website details and postcodes to assist navigation.
Amongst the 1,000 entries are two further distinctions, the A-List which identifies those restaurants which are well above average, and the Top 100 List which is a second tier of high achievers.
The Guide’s introduction continues the tradition of carrying fact and fun features including a 30 year look-back on the Curry Club’s history, the Currination, a light-hearted look back on our nation’s currinary activities since the last edition, a Cobra recipe section and a survey of unusual pickles. The Guide’s definitive menu glossary has been updated to reflect increasing regional and more sophisticated curry offerings. Also featured is an alphabetical town index and county maps.
The 2013 Good Curry Awards
This year the top curry award has gone to the Painted Heron in Chelsea. The capital does well for top curries but other areas of the country have won rave reviews for their restaurants. Moksh in Cardiff, and Massala in Cobham, Surrey, are the others in the top three. Over 20 other restaurants (listed below) have achieved BEST status in their various regions.
Every restaurant listed in the Guide is entitled to display a 2013 wall certificate, signed by Pat Chapman who founded the Curry Club in 1982 to share information about recipes, restaurants and spicy foods.
Publisher: The Curry Club, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 2AP
ISBN: 978-10-9537735-3-4
RSP: £14.95
It can be ordered at all bookshops, or author-signed from Pat Chapman’s Curry Club.
(www.patchapman.co.uk) at £14.95 plus £2.05 UK p&p.
2013 Good Curry Awards winners
BEST IN UK
Painted Heron, Chelsea, SW1
BEST UK CHEF
Yogesh Datta, Painted Heron, Chelsea, SW1
shared with
Steven Gomes, Moksh, Cardiff
SCOTLAND
Verandah, Edinburgh BEST OVERALL in SCOTLAND
Balaka, St Andrews, Fife BEST IN NORTH SCOTLAND
Mya, Edinburgh, Lothian BEST IN EAST SCOTLAND
WALES
Moksh, Cardiff, Glamorgan BEST IN WALES
Bengal Dynasty, Shotton & Llandudno BEST IN NORTH WALES
NORTH OF ENGLAND
Akbars: Bradford (2), Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds (2), Manchester, Middlesborough, Newcastle, Rotherham & York BEST UK GROUP
Ashoka, Sheffield BEST IN YORKSHIRE
Gulshan, Liverpool BEST IN MERSEYSIDE
Valley 397, Newcastle BEST IN NORTH EAST
MIDLANDS
Anoki Burton, Derby, Nottingham BEST IN MIDLANDS
Curry Fever, Leicester, Leics BEST IN EAST MIDLANDS
Maharaja Birmingham, West Midlands BEST IN WEST MIDLANDS
Calcutta Brasserie, Milton Keynes, Bucks BEST IN CENTRAL ENGLAND
WEST OF ENGLAND
Viceroy Yeovil, Axminster and Bath BEST IN THE WEST COUNTRY
Rajdoot, St Ives, Cornwall BEST IN CORNWALL
SOUTH
Massala, Cobham BEST IN SOUTH ENGLAND
The Ambrette Margate (& Rye), Kent BEST IN SOUTH EAST
Bombay Bay, Southsea, Hants BEST ON SOUTH COAST
Brilliant, Southall, Middlesex BEST IN OUTER LONDON, WEST
Chez Mumtaj, St Albans, Herts BEST IN HOME COUNTIES, NORTH
Mango Lounge, Windsor, Berks BEST IN HOME COUNTIES, WEST
Sesame, New Malden BEST IN OUTER LONDON, SOUTH
