Restaurateur Assader keeps customers coming back

A “PHILANTHROPIST restaurateur” from the city has been served up a top prize at the Scottish Curry Awards.

Eastern Spices, in Howard Street, Canonmills, beat former Capital winners Kebab Mahal to land takeaway of the year award.

Owner Assader Ali said: “A combination of good customer service, experience and the best ingredients has paid off.

“I’ve been running takeaways in Edinburgh for 19 years and we are famous for maintaining our quality and consistency of service.” Mr Ali was recently described as a “philanthropist restaurateur” after preparing turkey jalfrezi for Edinburgh’s homeless on Christmas Day.

He said: “We opened a comments book to get feedback on our change of premises from Canonmills Bridge to Howard Street and they were overwhelmingly positive.

“I think we’ve been rewarded this year with all of the kind nominations. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who nominated us.”