Labour's Council Leader and Parliamentary Candidate, David Ellesmere congratulates Manik Miah and his team at Ipswich's Maharani Restaurant as they win yet another award.

On Wednesday I attended a dinner to celebrate another Ipswich success story. Manik Miah from the Maharani restaurant on Norwich Road has won the Caterer of the Year Award for the East of England. This is a national award by the Bangladeshi Caterers Association. There are over 12,000 curry houses in the UK so you can imagine this was against some pretty stiff competition!

The award recognises not just high quality food and service but also links to the community. Manik regularly holds charitable events including the annual Mayor’s Charity Curry Evening. The Maharani has long been one of my favourite restaurants so it’s very pleasing to see Manik getting national recognition for what we all knew anyway.

Hopefully the award will attract new customers to sample the delights of the Maharani and the other excellent curry houses we have in Ipswich.