The Akash in Southsea officially named as one of the best Indian restaurants in England

Staff from The Akash in Albert Road recently attended the English Curry Awards in Birmingham, and returned to the city with one of the top prizes in their pockets.

The Akash received the award for south east restaurant of the year, in a black-tie event hosted by BBC presenter Tommy Sandhu.

Criteria for this category include food quality, customer service and overall dining experience, with members of the public voting for the winner.

Co-owner of the restaurant, Faz Ahmed, said: ‘It’s an absolute honour – I’d like to think this win is testament to the quality of service and food we always strive for with each and every order.

‘My huge thanks to the Portsmouth people for voting and The Akash team for helping achieve this. It’s a quality we’ll certainly keep up.’

Over the years, The Akash has become a cornerstone of Portsmouth’s community.

At the start of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, staff provided free curries to workers at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, and took part in the Reverse Advent Calendar initiative that same year.

In 2018, the family-run business flew an order to 30 British expats living in Bordeaux, France, and featured on the Channel 5 programme ‘Saturday Night Takeaways: Binge Britain’ two years ago.

Following the awards ceremony, Faz also commented on the increasing diversity in the curry industry.

He said: ‘I was amazed at the diversity – men and women, both English and Asian, are running Indian curryhouses to fantastic quality.

‘Long may it continue.’