Indian restaurant clinches Sunderland Echo’s Takeaway of the Year title

Left Rubel Islam and Abdul Kadir Jilane from Saffron Indian, celebrate winning the Echo Take Away of the Year 2019 winner.

Saffron Indian, won over customers with its top grub, to be crowed the Sunderland Echo’s Takeaway of the Year 2019.

The owner and staff at the Fulwell Road premises are thrilled to have been voted the winners, out of dozens of other entrants.

Rubel Islam, left, and Abdul Kadir Jilane from Saffron Indian, celebrate winning the Echo Take Away of the Year 2019 winner.

Sunderland Echo readers were asked to tell us their favourite takeaways in Sunderland.

Voting slips were placed in copies of the paper and readers were asked to vote for their number one and send them in.

Saffron, owned by Rubel Islam, was one of the ten finalists and after a hard fought competition took the trophy.

The other nine finalists who were rated as top tasting were Fulwell Tandoori Chef, Buddha Belly in Stockton Road, Da Vinci Pizza in Church Street North, Caesar in Chester Road. The Golden Chef in Borough Road, Spice 1 in St Luke’s Terrace, Indian Style in Silksworth Lane, Devitos in Castlereagh Street and GMTS in Dundas Street.

Rubel, who is also the head chef at Saffron, said for them to be voted the winners was a huge honour.

He said: “Whenever we get good reviews and feedback from the customers it gives you a massive boost, to know your hard work is paying off.

“It motivates you to do even better.

“We are delighted to win this award, it is a huge achievement. To know the customers like your food and they voted for you, is amazing.”

Rubel opened the Sunderland business seven years ago and it has grown with success.

He used to work and run similar businesses in Birmingham before moving to Wearside, where his wife is from.

Rubel said: “My food is slightly different to what other restaurants do. Everyone has their own style of cooking, but mostly the dishes are quite similar.

“I have tweeked my recipies with a South Indian feel, so it is slightly different.”

The businessmen believes one of the main reasons for the success of the takeaway is the high quality of ingredients he uses.

He said: “We only use fresh ingredients and cook everything from scratch.”

With the takeaway proving so popular, Rubel is considering looking for bigger premises so he can open a restaurant as well.