INDIAN restaurant Shalim's Balti House has been shortlisted in the British Curry Awards.

The awards are now celebrating their 13th year promoting the curry industry.

The results will be announced at a glittering VIP. black-tie gala dinner at the Battersea Evolution, London, on Monday November 27. The British Curry Awards are the biggest ceremony in the world of hospitality calendar and are the principal social and networking event for the industry. The event is considered to be the Oscars of the industry and is broadcast to more than 200 countries around the world.

Shalim Abdul of Shalim's Balti House said: “It’s an honour to be shortlisted for this year’s British Curry awards, we have been working really hard over the last few years to make our restaurant one of the best in the country and this recognition shows we are on the right track.

"There are many awards out there that are all prestigious in their own right but this is the one that everyone wants to win, so fingers crossed for November 27th.”

The British Curry Awards, often referred to as the curry industry’s ‘Oscars’, will showcase the curry industry which is still facing a huge staff crisis. It is an opportunity not just to reward and acknowledge success, but to provide a voice for the industry to lobby the Government.

Every year the BCA are attended by leading celebrities from the worlds of hospitality, sports, television and film, as well as leading political and business figures. Last year the BCA was honoured to have the presence of royalty, with the Duchess of York as a VIP guest.

Enam Ali MBE, founder of the BCA, says, “This is a crucial year for our business with a new government being formed in uncertain political times and Brexit negotiations getting underway. It is more important than ever before that we get our message across to those that matter, and the Awards are the perfect opportunity to do so.”

The family run Shalim's Balti House Indian restaurant first opened its doors in Weymouth back in 1996 in the Clipper Cafe site on Commercial Road in Weymouth under the name of The Balti House Indian Restaurant. The father and son business grew from strength to strength in the 1990s and at the dawn of the new millennium in 2000 Shalim took over the business from his father. Since then Shalim's Balti House has won countless local and national awards including the British Curry Awards a total of five times. Shalim's Balti House has been a main stay of Indian cuisine in Weymouth for the last 30 years.