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13 Oct 2025
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13 Oct 2025
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Mr Ali, Abdul and Aboo of The Eastern Rye in Newton Abbot with Chris Coward, director of Clear Sky Publishing, receiving the Best Restaurant of the Year award at the Currylife Awards 2025
The Eastern Rye in Newton Abbot, run by Mr Ali, Abdul and Aboo, is used to collecting awards acknowledging both the quality of their food and service, plus the overall atmosphere in the restaurant.
This continued yesterday when they were voted Best Restaurant of the Year at the annual Currylife Awards 2025 at the elite London Marriott Hotel last night at a star-studded ceremony.
They have won awards in abundance, locally and regionally before, but on this occasion picked up a national award as one of the best across the UK.
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The event was hosted by ITN's Nina Hossain, with a keynote speech from Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, the original founder and pioneer of Cobra beer, outlining the important role the "curry house" continues to play in British culture and how the industry has evolved and continues to adapt to the economic challenges of the day.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Amin Ali, whose Red Fort restaurant in Soho was the go-to restaurant for celebrities from Hollywood and sport, as well as being the restaurant of choice for Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Theresa May.
The Eastern Eye has long been the home to a consistent flow of regular customers over the last 35 years, and they continue to go back for more.
The judges highlighted the menu as "a redefinition of quintessential Indian cuisine" and pointed to owner and founder, Touris Ali's background as a "chef at heart," but also his role in the community, sponsoring lots of local events and hosting many special "party" nights for sports clubs, charities and even music tribute bands and performers.
Ali celebrated the award by taking his team and some regular customers to enjoy the occasion and, true to form, spent most of the day on the telephone making sure all was well back at the restaurant for the week ahead.
Arriving home at 4am this morning, he was back in full flow mid-morning, showing the work ethic that guarantees that the awards will keep coming.
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