Sheffield restaurant which delivered free meals to NHS workers wins national award

Viraaj delivered free meals to NHS workers at Northern General Hospital one day during the pandemic.

Viraaj, an Indian restaurant in Woodseats, won the English Curry Award for Most Wanted Restaurant of the Year in Yorkshire and Humberside this week.

The 10th English Curry Awards 2021 welcomed 350 guests at the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport-NEC on Monday October 18, in a celebration of the English curry Industry.

The English Curry Awards recognise the hard work, determination, impeccable service and efforts of the best English curry establishment and professionals that create and serve delicious dishes at an excellent standard.

Viraaj offers a variety of Indian cuisine for dine-in and takeaway.

Sufi Miah, Viraaj manager, said: “When we won we were really happy, when they said it I was just jumping in the air. We had a really tough year, as everybody has owing to the pandemic. We had to change the business, we had offered takeaway before but we hadn’t done delivery. A lot of our customers are vulnerable so we started delivering.”

"This is a great achievement and we are very happy to have won again at the English Curry Awards as we won previously in 2017 Restaurant of the Year. We are especially proud of this award because of the immense hard work that we put into our restaurant, this year and last year.

"This award highlights how we were able to cope through the difficult times and come out as winners. Thank You to all our customers and everyone for nominating us and thank you to our hard working team at Viraaj."

During the pandemic, Viraaj devoted one day to delivering free meals to the key workers at the pharmacy department at Northern General Hospital as a way of saying thank you to the NHS.

The team at Viraaj Indian Restaurant on Chesterfield Road in Woodseats. Picture Scott Merrylees

The English Curry Awards 2021 embodied the strength of the nation’s hospitality industry. It is a vast group of men and women from the restaurant and takeaway industry who specialise in creating England’s favourite dish.

Irfan Younis, CEO of Oceanic Consulting, said: “We are honoured and delighted to have such great finalists and winners representing the English curry industry and enhancing its reputation nationally and internationally.

“We were very happy to welcome the guests and celebrate with them. Congratulations to all finalists and winners!”