Children’s author and broadcaster Michael Rosen always orders the tarka dal on his weekly visit to The Taste of Nawab in Muswell Hill.
And the We’re Going on a Bear Hunt writer popped along to the London Marriott Hotel last Sunday to present Abdul with the Curry Life award for best chef.
Abdul Rahman collecting his award at the Curry Life Awards, Marriot Grosvenor on October 12.(Image: Kois Miah)
“Michael comes in every week, he is one of our very loyal customers and it was wonderful that he handed me the award,” said Abdul.
He has been owner and head chef of the 34 seat BYO curry house for 29 years and praises his local clientele, who have also included EastEnders actor Michelle Collins, Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet, and Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman.
“This award is a community award,” he says. “We are grateful to our loyal customers and the support they have always given us, they are the backbone of everything. Without our community it would never have been possible to have achieved all of this.”
The awards celebrate the “culinary heroes of the British Asian restaurant industry” and Abdul certainly fits the bill.
Over the years he has donated to local schools and good causes like the Antony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust.
If a customer is sick he will send round food, and when thousands in Muswell Hill were left without gas after pipes flooded in January, he handed out meals to neighbours as soon as his own supply was restored.
“For 29 years I have been giving back to the community and I really feel part of it,” says Abdul.
The restaurant has earned other awards from Tripadvisor, the Good Food Awards, Asian Food Awards and Time Out Awards.
And while Abdul says the bestselling dish is the chicken karahi, the secret to his success is quality ingredients, fresh sauces and “cooking with a lot of passion”.
Paying tribute to the kitchen and waiting staff at the Colney Hatch Lane restaurant, he adds: “My gratitude is to my team, they are all doing a fantastic job and I wouldn’t have won this without them.”
