Portsmouth Indian takeaway nominated for prestigious national award

Paanchi Indian Street Kitchen has been nominated to represent Portsmouth in the Tiffin Cup, an annual competition established in 2007 to find the best South Asian restaurant in the UK.

The takeaway, in Fratton Road, opened in 2017 and was awarded as the ‘Best takeaway in Fratton’ at the Inspiring Fratton Awards 2021 for its work within the community.

Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP, was asked to select a representative from the island so he asked the public to nominate their favourite South Asian restaurant in the city, with Mr Morgan saying the Paanchi city’s runaway favourite to head forward to the regional heats.

Mr Morgan said: ‘The guys that run this fantastic restaurant and takeaway in Fratton do so much for the community and they’re really well respected in their city, so it was an absolute pleasure to nominate them for the national award as our selection from Portsmouth.’

Owner Shahriar Uddin said he couldn’t believe it when he found out Paanchi had been nominated.

He said: ‘There’s a lot of competition in Portsmouth when it comes to Indian takeaways and restaurants so when we received the email to say that we’d been nominated by the Portsmouth people it felt amazing.’

Mr Morgan highlighted how the award promotes Portsmouth businesses and the benefits it has on the economy.

He said: ‘I really want to encourage people to shop and buy locally, because if you spend in your local takeaway or shop, for every pound you spend, 63p goes back into the local economy so it supports local employment and the future of our economy.’

Paanchi will compete against the other regional finalists in a cook off which takes place every year in the Houses of Commons in front of a panel of expert judges. Head of the judging panel is celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott and the Tiffin Cup winners trophy will be presented by the speaker of the House of Commons.

The Tiffin Cup will be celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and aims to promote the importance of South Asian restaurants throughout the UK. The grand final will take place in March.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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