Indian eatery gets UK's National Restaurant of the Year award

In a first, an Indian eatery in the UK has won the country's prestigious National Restaurant of the Year award, a sign that curry houses are now being taken seriously for their culinary excellence.
Beating even the traditional "fine dining" restaurants such as The Clove Club and The Ledbury, which came second and third respectively, Gymkhana in London's Mayfair is the first Indian restaurant to win the award, local media reported.
Inspired by colonial Indian gymkhana clubs, the restaurant blends authentic Indian food and modern British styling and became an immediate hit when it opened in September 2013, The Independent reported.

The eating place has become famous for its commitment to traditional Indian cuisine and its refusal to tone down the powerful flavours to suit the Europeans, the paper quoted the chef Karam Sethi as saying.
"It's a testament to the quality of Gymkhana as well as the true diversity of the UK's eating out scene that an Indian restaurant has been named the best place to eat out in the UK," said Stefan Chomka, editor of Restaurant magazine.
National Restaurant Awards in association with Estrella Damm is a Restaurant magazine's annual count down of the top 100 restaurants in the UK.

The award, now in their seventh year, is decided by an expert panel of chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics.