An Indian restaurant in Barnoldswick has been nominated by an MP to compete in a national contest to crown Britain’s best South Asian restaurant.

Musafir Earby will represent the town in the Tiffin Cup – an annual competition established in 2006 – after they received the most votes from customers across the area.

The restaurant opened in 2020, just two weeks before lockdown, but managed to stay afloat by offering a delivery service until business was allowed to reopen properly.

Andrew Stephenson, Pendle MP, was asked to select a restaurant to enter the competition so he reached out to the public to nominate their favourite local in the town.

He said: “Congratulations to Musafir Earby who I have nominated for the Tiffin Cup 2023.

“The Tiffin Cup is a national competition to find the most popular curry house in the country.

"Each MP gets to nominate one from their area and I nominated Musafir based on the overwhelming number of supportive comments from customers on my December 29 Facebook post (over 250 people commented on which their favourite local curry house was!).

“Nominated restaurants will be tested by a mystery diner, and then the best ten restaurants are shortlisted and invited to a cook-off at the House of Commons. 

“Good luck to the team at Musafir!”

The owner, Majid Hussain, said he was honoured to be nominated for the national award.

He said: "It means a great deal and an honour to be selected by our customers as we have worked very hard to make sure we stand out from our competitors and other restaurants.

"We believe in cooking fresh and use of the finest ingredients.

"Our way of cooking is very traditional hence being appreciated by our customers and we are able to accommodate customers dietary requirements."

Mr Hussain highlighted the success of the restaurant is down to the hard working staff and the fact they listen to feedback and value all customers feedback.

He added: "We also make sure that any feedback we receive from our customers is shared with staff and implemented.

"We regularly have team meetings on a Saturday after closure upon which a number of discussions are discussed as well as feedback from customers and what we need to improve on.

"Customers are appreciative that we listen to their feedback and implement them. 

"I really appreciate the hard work the staff have put in over the last couple of years as without the staff, we would not be here today.

"My staff have been loyal to me since the opening of the restaurant.

"The staff were overjoyed once announced that we had been selected. It is a fantastic achievement from everyone at Team Musafir."

One restaurant from every region is shortlisted and invited to participate in the Grand Final cook-off event held in the House of Commons.