Leicester, Curry Capital of the UK
What is the Curry Capital of Britain?
The Curry Capital of Britain was first created in 1999 by Peter & Colleen Grove who chaired The National Dome Grading Scheme (now The Federation of Specialist Restaurants) and are co-editors of The Real Curry Restaurant Guide as well as Oriental, Italian and Mood Food Restaurant Guides.
The Curry Capital of Britain was held every year up to 2007 when it was won by Leicester. The competition was re-introduced for 2010 but as part of the 13th National Curry Week in November 2010 and was a huge success in 2011 and 2012.
Leicester's history & tradition as Curry Capital
Leicester has a grand tradition in the Curry Capital of Britain competition, having won the ultimate accolade in 2007 for the first time in the competition’s history.
To win the grand title of ‘Curry Capital of Britain’, Leicester emerged triumphant against competition from other UK cities including London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bradford, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Nottingham and Leeds.
The city came a creditable fourth in both 2011 and 2012. Of the later competition, organisers said Leicester 'produced a very effective online council submission with good restaurant team support, particularly from Anjuna with its Beach Party held to raise donations for charity and were close up in fourth place beating Birmingham, winners in 2005, once again'.
Leicester's restaurant team for 2012 included Mem-Saab, The Curry Fever, Leeja Palace and Anjuna.
More cities than ever compete for Curry Capital 2013
The Curry Capital of Britain 2013 will have two new cities competing for the coveted title with Brighton and Oxford joining the fray. Cities invited to compete for 2013 by the organisers are: London East; London North; London South; London West; London Central; Birmingham; Leicester; Cardiff; Bradford; Manchester; Sheffield; Newcastle; Edinburgh; Glasgow; Liverpool; Leeds; Wolverhampton; Nottingham; Northampton; Brighton and Oxford.
Last year over a quarter of a million curry fans voted for their favourite restaurants and city, and the response is expected to be even greater with the active support of lead event sponsors hungryhouse.co.uk. The event is unique as it involves first the public, who vote via vote@fedrest.com, their local council website or the restaurants themselves. Once a team of restaurants have been voted to represent each city they move on to the city voting stage whilst the judges prepare their reports on the restaurants and the council or marketing body make a submission as to why their city should win.
11th Curry Capital of Britain is part of 16th National Curry Week (7-14th October) which exists to promote the cuisine and the importance of our ethnic communities whilst raising much needed funds for the poor and malnourished.
See the latest article in the Leicester Mercury on the city's bid to win the Curry Capital of Britain 2013 title
You can vote for Leicester as your Curry Capital by emailing vote@fedrest.com or You can vote for Leicester as your Curry Capital by emailing vote@fedrest.com or why not show your support by following us on Twitter at @leiccurrycap and using the hashtag #leiccurrycap. Alternatively ‘like’ us on Facebook by searching for Leicester as Curry Capital of Britain. We’d love to hear from you so why not tell us about your favourite dishes, best restaurants or just generally why you believe Leicester should be proclaimed as Britain’s Curry Capital this year.
