Sunderland favourite Yuvraaj hopes to serve up a win in English Restaurant Awards

Yuvraaj is hoping to curry favour with national restaurant judges again.

The Douro Terrace venue has been nominated in the Indian Restaurant of the Year category in the third annual English Restaurant Awards.

The news comes just three months after owner Monie Hussain and his team beat off nationwide competition to be named Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year in The Nation’s Curry Awards 2024.

That final was held in Manchester - and Monie is hoping lightning will strike again when the English Restaurant Awards are handed out in the city at a ceremony due to be held shortly.

The awards are based on customer nominations, followed up by an anonymous visit by the judges: “They have come in at some point that we were not aware of and assessed us for themselves before putting us into the final ten,” said Monie,.

Regardless of the result, he is delighted just to have made the shortlist: “There are only 10 restaurants in the whole of the country that are nominated,” he said.

“Regardless of whether we win or not, just to be in the top ten in the country is an honour.”

He is pleased to see Sunderland’s profile growing on a national level: “For me, it is really important to be able to represent our people and our beautiful city that is growing slowly but surely,” he said,

“As a Mackem, as a lad who was born and bred in Sunderland, it is always an honour to represent our city.”

And he thanked everyone who had helped to make the business a success since he took over the former Cafe Spice 2000 nine years ago - and especially the loyal customer base that had helped to emerge unscathed from the Covid pandemic: “Our customers are our friends and they have supported us through the toughest of times,” said Monie.

“I want to say a heartfelt thank you to them and to all our staff, past and present - everybody has played their part.”