Taj Bar and Kitchen bosses mourn loss of curry king who helped restaurant achieve national fame

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Management and staff at the Taj Bar and Kitchen are this week mourning the loss of one of the UK’s greatest curry entrepreneurs – who helped the Prestwick Indian restaurant achieve nationwide fame.Enam Ali MBE died aged 62 after a two-year battle with cancer.Ali founded the annual British Curry Awards in 2005 which was described as the “Curry Oscars” by former Prime Minister David Cameron.In 2012, The Taj was named the best restaurant in Scotland at the awards in front of 1,500 industry guests.The glittering event included a video message from then PM Mr Cameron and a written note from Her Majesty the Queen.For Taj owner Bobby Singh, it was one of the greatest nights of his life.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at your fingertips 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories while you can customise your page with the sections that matter to you.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now on iOS and Android.He recalled: “The whole family went down to the Battersea Evolution by train and we took four good customers with us.“Between the 12 of us, we must have spoken to hundreds of people on the night and none of them knew where Prestwick was.“Enam came to our table and introduced himself to us.

He was very charming and pleasant and wished us the best of luck. We enjoyed a seven-course curry banquet and when we were later announced as winners Enam came up to me and gave me a big hug.“Despite his great stature within the industry, he was very down to earth and humble.“That night we celebrated with champagne and malt whisky – and we carried on celebrating on the