Shalamar, named after famous garden, nominated for T&A award

The Telegraph & Argus recently launched its Best Curry House 2024 contest.

Readers were asked to share their favourite restaurants, with thousands of nominations coming in.

The nominations were narrowed down to 10 and we have been profiling each of the finalists. 

Shalamar has been nominated for the T&A Best Curry House award (Image: Newsquest)

Today we are highlighting Shalamar, which is located on Manchester Road.

“This is really deserved for us,” said Shalamar manager Haroon Mahboob.

“We started in the late 1970s and this restaurant is a legacy of my grandparents.

Mahboob Ahmed, CEO and head chef at Shalamar (Image: UGC)

“My dad (Mahboob Ahmed) took over the restaurant in the late 1980s. He’s still the head chef and our CEO.

“It’s interesting how it’s all changed since then.

“It was much harder to get all the spices you needed because it would cost so much to import them.

One of the dishes on offer at Shalamar (Image: UGC)

“But now all the spices we use for homemade food are easily available on the shelves.

“My family have always mixed their spices well and they had a vision for Shalamar when it opened.

“The restaurant actually gets its name from the Shalamar Gardens in Lahore. The gardens are a beautiful place.

Shalamar restaurant in Bradford is named after the Shalamar Gardens in Lahore (Image: Google Street View)

“And Lahore is one of the upmarket places to go for street food and not just the curries.

“We have a saying in Pakistan that ‘whoever hasn’t seen Lahore hasn’t lived’.”

Haroon also spoke about the special bond with their customers which they have built up over the years.

He said: “We used to have an arcade game in our shop called Space Invaders, and some customers tell us of the time they used to come in and play Space Invaders and get a kebab sandwich.

“They were 10 or 15 years old then and now they’re coming back and getting their curries.

“Other customers have moved away to places across the globe but then they come back at Christmas and visit us.”

Haroon also spoke about how Shalamar “strongly believes in charity”.

He said they recently catered food for refugees at a local church and, during Covid, delivered food packs to people in the community.

“We’ve also delivered food packs and blankets for people in Pakistan," he said.

“You should never forget your roots and what people have sacrificed for us.

“We’re only a small 30-seater restaurant but we’re a family business who has managed to keep going through difficult times like Covid.”

To vote for your favourite curry house as part of our T&A competition, simply fill out the voting form in the coupon in the newspaper. Today is the final day the coupon will appear.