The Maha-Bharat restaurant in Kingsbridge has been listed as one of the top ten curry houses in the South-West England region by a panel from The Asian Catering Federation.

The panel praised the curry house for its “well-loved favourites served with a lighter more delicate touch.”

Maha-Bharat was established in 1993, and serves Bengali and Indian cuisine. The restaurant is no stranger to recognition; just last year it was named Best Asian Restaurant in the South West.

The restaurant was one of four curry houses in Devon to have made it onto the list. The other Devon restaurants that were included are:

λ Ilfracombe’s Spice Lounge in North Devon, who say:  “At Spice Lounge, we maintain the gold standard in cooking some of the finest Indian dishes for our customers to indulge in. Our skills lie in the accurate mix and balance of the spices & herbs we use to prepare and cook our food.”

λ Denley’s Essence of India, nestled into Topsham high street. Although the restaurant appears small, it is described as ‘tardis-like’ as it can seat up to fifty people. The restaurant praises their “top-quality Exeter Indian takeaway food”, and have won multiple awards previously.

λ Ragini, in Seaton, East Devon, who focus on creating the “authentic taste of Bangladesh” with their delicious family recipes.

The four curry houses named by the federation means that Devon has more listings than any other county, with the curry houses in Devon featuring highly in the top ten list.

Yawar Khan, Chairman of the Asian Catering Federation said: “The south-west is one of the favourite regions for our judges to visit, because of the depth and variety of innovative cooking.”

The Asian Catering federation have a panel that decide on the best restaurants, who have been touring the country and evaluating various curry houses, with the results then being put to a public vote. They took into account factors such as culinary skills, ambiance, service, hygiene and contribution to the local community when allocating points to the restaurants.

This regional list will form part of the rankings on a national level, as the federation put together their list of the UK’s One Hundred Top Curry Restaurants.