A MAJOR revamp and spicing up of the menu has led to a Barnard Castle restaurant reaching the finals of a prestigious TV chef awards scheme.
The Bengal Merchant, on The Bank, was nominated for The Chef TV Reality Show’s awards after being visited by a mystery diner and is now one of 29 restaurants to reach the regional finals.
The winners are to be announced at gala dinner at Newcastle University on November 5 and will be broadcast on the ION channel on the Sky platform.
Brothers Mufti, Chad, Naz and Mohammed Choudhury were surprised to find out they were nominated.
Mufti Choudhury, who is both chef and co-owner of The Bengal Merchant, said: “They sent a secret diner to check the restaurant.
“We don’t even know when they came in or anything like that but they said the food was excellent and the service was brilliant.
“To be honest, I don’t mind if we don’t win. It is an achievement to get nominated and to be in the finals.
“It is a massive achievement if you think about how many restaurants there are – hundreds and hundreds of them.”
The restaurant was recently refurbished, with new Turkish light fittings added to improve the ambience and a new air-conditioning unit to make the venue more comfortable.
The menu has also been revamped.
Mr Choudhury said: “We kept the same food but we made it better.”
Awards organisers have since visited the restaurant to make a promotional video featuring the restaurant and its chef discussing and demonstrating a number of favourite dishes.
Mr Choudhury said: “At first we thought you must be joking.
“We didn’t believe it until they came out [to make the video].
“To be honest I was a bit nervous being in the video.”
Customers and supporters are now being encouraged to share the video which can be found at youtu.be/ UiKAv8MBE7w.
Restaurants which win awards will take part in the next season of The Chef Reality TV Show to determine the Chef of the Year.
Mr Choudhury said: “It will be a great achievement for the town as well as ourselves if we win. Over the past 11-and-a-half years my brothers and I have been here we are proud to be recognised.”
