Curry award nomination 'means a great deal' to Burnham restaurant owner

The owner of Burnham restaurant says it ‘feels great’ to be nominated for a national curry award.

Pepper Indian Cuisine, based in the High Street since 1998, has been nominated as the ‘Best Indian Restaurant in Berkshire’ at the Euro Asia Curry Awards 2025.

The ninth event takes place at Mercure Hotel in Earls Court on Monday, October 27 and owner Mintu Hussain says this is the restaurant’s first award nomination since 2001.

Peppers was previously named a winner in a local South Bucks curry awards and a regional winner in the National Curry Awards.

“That was a long time ago,” Mintu told the Express.

“It means a great deal to me because it’s been a while since I’ve been through that process, so it feels great and I’m really happy with it.”

The 47-year-old has always been in the catering business, having started working in other companies before opening Peppers with his family members.

“I was always into catering, finding out more and trying to be more adventurous because I’m a chef myself,” he said.

“Food has changed a lot through the years – now it’s more fusion and people trying out different stuff. The menus are greater – there’s a lot of change to it.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to stay with your tradition, but we’ve been established for so long.”

Judges tried three dishes from Peppers across different spice levels and meats, and Mintu said he is constantly researching new dishes by visiting other establishments to ‘keep up’.

The restaurant serves a mixture of Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine with popular dishes such as South Indian garlic chilli chicken and sea bass – and some were presented to the judges.

Mintu has been the sole owner since 2015, after his uncle retired and is looking forward to the awards ceremony next week.

“The customers are happy – they are proud of us,” he added.

“They are really pleased with it – they’ve been saying just go for it really.”