Lala's Restaurant in Pudsey wins best Asian restaurant in the north of England award

Lala's Restaurant in Pudsey won the regional title at the Asian Restaurant Awards 2021.

The national awards, hosted by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), were held at the Manchester Mercure Piccadilly on Tuesday, August 31.

The Bradford Road restaurant only opened in January 2020, after the owner transformed a disused former pub into a luxurious eatery.

Entrepreneur Junior said: "We went down not expecting a lot because there are restaurants that have been around for many years and the north of England is a big area.

"We were happy to be nominated and felt it was worth it to go down and have a good night and see what's going on.

"There are certain big restaurants that I've always looked up to and you work hard so that your role models become your rivals.

"This achievement took us by surprise because these are the same guys that I looked up to, your Akbars and Aagrahs, and we took the award from them.

"They've all been they've been around for 30/40 years so for us to come and try to tap that market, receiving the award is so flattering and a big achievement."

Mr Rashid, who owns several other Lala's Restaurants across West Yorkshire, said he was "forever grateful" to his customers for their support.

He said: "Despite us only being in Pudsey a short time, it has just taken off.

"I'm there myself at the front of house and the response has been amazing.

"We are on the ring road so we launched it as Lala's Leeds Bradford as we are literally on the borderline of both cities.

"We have a mixed diversity, a mixed clientele. We're not targeting any particular clientele we just want everybody to come and enjoy the Lala's experience.

"It's a key building and we completely renovated it to a luxury standard, no expense was spared.

"The place looks the part, the food is on point but the key thing is the service that we emphasise and going the extra mile, above and beyond, for our customers."

He added: "I think we deserve this award because I work tirelessly myself seven days a week and I've got a fantastic team who have supported me and work very hard side by side with me.

"It is teamwork that makes the dream work.

"It has been a tough time for hospitality but the award recognises that it is onwards and upwards, and it makes us feel that people are appreciative of our hard work and effort.

"We appreciate and are forever grateful to our customers

"If it wasn't for the customers, we wouldn't be where we are today."

The Huddersfield branch of Lala's won best commended at the awards.