Aarti Leeds: Meet the husband and wife behind the much-loved Indian restaurant where customers are 'family'

After nine years in Roundhay, Prachi Choudhary and Shyamal Kumar closed their Aarti site earlier this year as they expanded into bigger premises on Swinegate. And the pair say they are overjoyed that their customers, who they call “family”, have followed them to their new location.

Prachi told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We had such lovely support over the nine years. You don’t realise that until there are tough times, that’s when we realised how much people loved us. During Covid, we were showered with so much love when we closed - so many emails, messages and calls.

“All of our regular customers - I knew what wines they would like, I knew their order, I remembered what they ate the time before. It was an emotional moment for us when we decided to close the branch, we had that connection with the customers.

“But it is so amazing, they are all following us here. When they come here, it feels like our family has come home.”

Shyamal, Aarti’s patron chef, has worked in the culinary industry since he was a teenager - honing his skills at a number of Park Plaza hotels across India. He was headhunted by the owner of the original Aarti restaurant, in Roundhay Road, in 2005 and moved to Leeds to take up the head chef post.

When the owners decided to close the restaurant in 2013, Shyamal couldn’t let it go.

Prachi said: “He had become so emotionally attached with the name and he decided that he didn’t want it to disappear. He designed the menus, all his recipes were there, so he decided to open his own in Street Lane. I was seven months pregnant at the time and we started our Aarti journey together.”

While Shaymal ran the kitchen in their tiny Street Lane restaurant, located upstairs, Prachi ran the front-of-house operation. Their warm service and authentic food earned them top spots on both Tripadvisor and Google reviews, becoming one of the best-rated Indian restaurants in Leeds.

Looking to expand, the pair spotted a unit in Swinegate in October last year and relocated to the city centre in March. Aarti serves street food and curries from both South India and the Punjab, including pani puri, chicken tikka and seek kebab, as well as vegetarian and meat thalis with a selection of dals, curry, rice, puri and a dessert.

While they get on their feet, the restaurant is currently serving a limited menu - but a larger range of Aarti favourites will soon be added.

“Whatever Shyamal does he just puts his heart into it,” Prachi added. “If he thinks it’s not meant to go out, he won’t send it out. It’s all designed by him and our aim is to bring those lovely flavours from India to Leeds.

“The other day, we had an Indian student here and she called her mum to show her the food. It was such a pleasure to see the expression on her face.

“I love seeing the smiles people have after tasting our food. That emotional connection they have with us, that’s what keeps us going. When you eat here, you are like family to us.”