Staff at an Indian Restaurant in Ramsbottom are ‘over the moon’ after winning a prestigious national award.

Indian Lounge, on Bolton Street, was nominated for three Curry Life Awards  and walked away with the top prize of Best Restaurant 2022 at a ceremony in London this October.

The Curry Life Awards aim to recognise the best of the British curry industry and to honour those who have shown innovation and inspiration in their work.

Indian Lounge is owned and run by chef Mohammed Lathifur 'Latif' Rahman, 54, and his three sons and has remained a popular fixture in Ramsbottom since opening its doors more than a decade ago.

Restaurant manager, Mohammed Shahinoor, known to customers as ‘Shiny’, says he and his family felt ‘over the moon’ to have their hard work recognised at the ceremony at Grosvenor House.

He said: “We were over the moon, I don’t know what words can describe to tell you how excited I was.

“We’ve been here for over 10 years, so for customers to recognise it, for a big event like the Curry Life Awards to recognise it, it was a big achievement for the establishment.

“Dad had the time of his life; he was really excited.

“I’ve never seen my Dad’s face smile like the way he smiled on that night.”

Mohammed and his father run the business along with his brothers Mohammed Sadikur 20, known as Sidik and Mohammed Mahfuzur, 15, known as Nemo, and says the restaurant “wouldn’t be where it is without them being a part of it.”

Finding out the Indian Lounge had been nominated for Best Restaurant, as well as Best Chef and Best Customer Service and Hospitality came as a big surprise to the family, who had never been nominated for an award before.

The good news came after a food critic visited the restaurant disguised as a construction worker and and recommended Indian Lounge for the shortlist.

Mohammed, 29, continued: “He came in and told us he’s put us forward for something called the Curry Life Awards.

“In September, we were contacted by Curry Life to say that they’re going to come down and film a promotional video for each restaurant shortlisted, so that’s when we found out we were actually getting shortlisted, out of all the restaurants that got nominated.”

Mohammed says that while he would ‘love’ to win even more awards, his focus is customer service and maintaining the restaurant’s high standards.

“I’m very orientated on standards, and the high quality of everything, whether it’s asking someone who if they’re left handed or right handed, it makes a big difference to their meal.

“If I was to ask you a simple thing, for example, are you left-handed or right handed, I can put [your cutlery] on the side that’s most accessible to you, “Its little things like that that go a very long way.”