Location revealed for Sunderland branch of My Delhi restaurant as it transforms empty unit

Earlier this year, it was announced that successful Newcastle restaurant, My Delhi, in Clayton Street, would be opening a bigger, sister site in Sunderland.

Now, the owners have revealed that they are transforming the former Funky Indian restaurant in Borough Road, which will feature a bar and restaurant on the first floor, as well as a downstairs restaurant.

The large site has had a number of guises over the years, including as Italian restaurant Cosa Nostra, Funky Indian restaurant and, very briefly, as late night bar Truth and Cafe 420 which was its last incarnation before it closed.

The owners of My Delhi say they hope to stamp the building on the map once more with their offering.

Brothers Elahi Shah Amin and Shah Amin opened the first My Delhi in May 2019 and said they’re excited about moving into Sunderland as part of a wave of investment from new businesses.

Speaking about what appealed to them about the new site, Elahi said: “There were a few factors which appealed to us about this site. Firstly, the size is exactly what we had in mind.

"This will be a 150-seater restaurant, which will be bigger than our Newcastle site, and we always knew we wanted to expand. The location is also great, next door to a great building like the Winter Gardens.

"It’s also ideally situated for the delivery side of the business.”

The businessman added: “The scale of investment happening in Sunderland is really exciting. There’s a lot of positivity in the air and a food scene of some great independents, so we’re excited to be a part of that.”

My Delhi specialises in Indian street food, with its best sellers including dishes such as 1950s-style butter chicken as well as its Emperor stew. Its authentic food, inspired by that found in India’s capital city, has already earned the restaurant awards in the prestigious Asian Curry Awards and the English Curry Awards.

Executive chef Gaurav Dayal said: “We’re all about casual dining and this site is perfect for that. We’ll be having a bar and restaurant upstairs, which is open for lunches onwards, with the full restaurant downstairs.”

The fit out will begin next week to transform the site and the team are aiming at opening around Easter time.

Elahi added: "We’re working with a really good designer. We’ve seen the plans and they’ve really taken it up a notch at this site, it’s going to be a really immersive experience for people.

"Since we announced we were coming to Sunderland, we’ve had loads of messages, especially people asking about the location.”

The new My Delhi will create 40 new jobs with recruitment taking place to fill the posts before Easter.

My Delhi is one of a number of new openings taking place in the city centre in the coming weeks. Rio Brazilian have announced they will be bringing their unlimited steak offering to Sunderland.

Meanwhile, German Doner Kebab is set to open their successful franchise in High Street West soon.

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