Birmingham ARTICLES

Birmingham restaurant Lasan wins Ramsay's 'F Word'

09th January 2010

An Indian restaurant in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter is celebrating after winning Gordon Ramsay's The F Word competition on Channel 4. Lasan head chef Aktar Islam secured victory with his Masala beef and curried pumpkin, broadcast on Thursday.

He said despite falling out with Ramsay and crying on network TV he had enjoyed the experience of working with him.

The restaurant serves modern Indian cuisine and beat 10,000 other entrants to be Britain's best local restaurant.

Eighteen restaurants were shortlisted for the series filmed in the summer.

Dessert 'a disaster'

Mr Islam said when the food "god that is Gordon Ramsay" crowned Lasan the best restaurant in Britain, it was very difficult keeping it a secret from his friends, family and colleagues.

Lasan was named the best local Indian restaurant in the country earlier in the series.

It went up against the Pheasant restaurant at Keyston in Cambridgeshire, which was the series winner in the British cuisine category.

In the final, the Pheasant served a main course featuring a trio of beef cuts that included rib, braised blade and grilled heart, followed by a tarte tatin of Braeburn apples for dessert.

Mr Islam followed his main with a Punjab-style pastry puff, which he said was "a bit of a disaster".

"I am not a man with a sweet tooth," he said.

"We had issues with the pastry, but in the end it didn't matter. We won on points but it was ultimately down to chef Ramsay's choice. "

Source: BBC