Tandoori Sep/Oct 2014 | Page 5

Leicester’s Red Hot World Buffet It’s Curry The city of Leicester has seen its biggest restaurant open during the summer with the latest launch branch of the Red Hot World Buffet. With several sites to its name, including Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham, Red Hot World Buffet’s new operation has come courtesy of a £2 million renovation and amounts to Leicester’s single biggest restaurant investment. Located on the corner of the High Street and Highcross shopping centre, the site, which is set over two floors and seats up to 420 covers, covers £16,000 sq foot, with a bar and live entertainment facilities. The restaurant’s successful dining formula is the same as its sister establishments with an ‘all you can eat’ concept, with cuisines ranging from Indian, Italian and British through to Mexican, Chinese and Japanese. James Horler, CEO of the Red Hot World Buffet group, said of the opening, “The venue has everything under one roof including a fantastic choice of food to suit every taste from pizza and pasta to sushi and a world grill serving meats and fish. ot forgetting the range of quality desserts including 14 varieties of cake, four types of fruits, two Indian desserts and a chocolate fountain with all the trimmings. “We hope to offer something for everyone. It’ll be a great destination for families to enjoy a meal out together plus with the variety and quality of food on offer, it’s an ideal place for groups of friends, work colleagues or students to have a night out. learly for fire fighters, all they need is the hot stuff!” Mridula Baljekar Gets World Gourmand Recognition Famed Indian cookery book author and chef Mridula Baljekar has once again made a name for herself on the international culinary circuit by scooping the ‘Best Indian Cookbook in the World’. Awarded by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, considered to be the Oscars of the cookbook world, this is Baljekar’s second ‘Best in the World’ by Gourmand. The awards ceremony in Beijing, China, had participants from around the world totalling 187 countries. i finalists were chosen from each category and Baljekar won for UK-India for her latest book, The Complete Indian Regional Cookbook. Published by Lorenz Books, the cookery book is a compilation of recipes exploring well-known as well as unknown territories of India. “I was just numbed by the award announcement,” said a jubilant Baljekar. “It was such a surprise. I was shocked and completely overjoyed, all at the same time. I’m next working on a book, which is really uniquely different, but I won’t say just yet as to what it is!” The Mint Room to Launch in Bristol Bath’s famed and awardwinning modern Indian restaurant The Mint Room is launching a second site in the south-west, in Bristol, Somerset. Located in the city’s upmarket Clifton area, the premises, formerly a short-lived Indian, are multi-level and will be larger than its original counterpart, with a large bar area by the entrance. Though the name of the new restaurant will remain the same as the Bath site, the menu concept will change, with www.tandoorimagazine.com 004_005_TM_Jun_Jul14_News_NEW.indd 5 plans for a bar menu and a tasting menu running alongside the a la carte. “This is an exciting next step in our expansion plans for the Mint Room,” said Luthfur Rahman, owner and managing director of the group. “We have achieved a tremendous level of success with the restaurant in a very short of space of time in Bath, winning just about every award possible on a local level as well as nationally at the British Curry Awards and being Michelin listed. I could not have asked for more.” “In Bristol, we are going to do even better,” he added. for National Heroes A national survey commissioned by UniformDating.com, the UK’s top dating site for uniformed professionals, has shown that curry is never quite far from the stomach of national heroes in places such as wards, police stations, hos itals, fire stations and on patrol. Curry has been voted as their favourite dish, whilst coming up next as their favourite were fish and chips, and soups. Topping the polls overall , with curry, fire fighters were articularly keen on the spicy treat with 29% choosing it as their favourite dish. The British classics, however, of gammon and chips and a full English breakfast were less popular with not a single vote. Both doctors and nurses came out as being the healthiest of the bunch in their meal choices, with them being the only professions to include a salad in their top three dishes. Although the various professions had a similar taste in food, they all displayed a very