Kerala Leeds: Inside the restaurant that has served authentic South Indian flavours for over a decade
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The story of one of Yorkshire's first-ever South Indian restaurants began in 2011, when brothers Agesh and Anoj Varghese, a civil servant at the HMRC in Bradford and a chef in London, noticed the lack of local eateries serving food from their home state.
Deciding to do something about it, the brothers secured a small venue in Shipley where they opened Kerala: a small cafe-style fast food kitchen.
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Agesh told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "There was nothing there, and the nearest one at the time was in Manchester. So we decided to open [our own]. The idea was to open a takeaway, serving southern Indian food, because we didn't have many funds available at the time.
"And when we went to various places to start the business, we found a place in Shipley that used to be a jewellery shop."
He continued: "So we got the property, we applied for the permission to be running as a fast food restaurant, and realised that there's got a bit of a flow ratio. And we thought, why don't we actually do it? Kind of a cafe, with sitting people?"
In February 2011, Kerala Cafe opened, and three years later, the restaurant moved to Eastgate in the city centre where it still is today.
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Hide AdHe said: "We concentrate mainly on the authenticity of the food. So most of the customers are people who have been to Kerala or are from Kerala. That's why we've had a loyal customer base for so many years."
Out of all the authentic meals Kerala serves, the most popular dish is the dosa. A large crepe-like pancake made from lentils and rice: "It ticks all the boxes. It's gluten-free, vegan and healthy and not much oil in it.


"The default one is the vegetarian one. Then, we have the chicken version of it, with chicken and potatoes, that's also popular. It's almost two feet long."
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Hide AdHowever, for new customers, Agesh recommends the thali: a sort of Indian tapas with ten small plates including a small dosa.
Since moving to the city centre a decade ago, Kerala has built up a strong customer base with regulars who have visited the restaurant for nearly ten years.
But running an independent business in Leeds city centre does not come without its problems. Since Victoria Gate was built next door, traffic restrictions have led to logistical issues, and more often than not, deliveries to the restaurant result in a parking fine.
During its time, Agesh has seen dozens of other businesses come and go, including Leeds' only Michelin Star restaurant, The Man Behind The Curtain, which shared the same building.
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Hide AdAgesh said: "We've been into that position as well several times we thought that we're not going to make it. But, because we've been here for quite some time now, we had a good deal with the rent, with the landlords. But obviously, there are a lot of disadvantages as well, because it's an old building."


Just earlier this month, the brothers opened a second location in Menston, which is run by younger brother Anoj. Agesh hopes that the new restaurant will allow for the original venue to undergo some upgrades in early 2025.
He said: "This restaurant has very old decor. All these arches here, It's all concrete which was probably made in the 1970s or something. So we were actually waiting for our other restaurants to be running so that we could do some investment here and do some major refurbishment.
"The plan is to actually do some refurbishment here and to make it look a bit more modern."
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