Lasan wins Gordon Ramsay's 'F Word' contest
7 January 2010

Lasan restaurant of Birmingham won Gordon Ramsay's 'F-Word' contest on Channel 4 last night (Thursday, 7th January 2010). The Indian diner, based in the city's Jewellery Quarter, beat off competition from 10,000 restaurants to be crowned Britain's Best Local Restaurant. The nationwide search for The F Word's Best Local Restaurant began months ago and eighteen fantastic restaurants in nine different categories (Italian, Indian, French, Chinese, Spanish, Thai, The Americas, British, Rest of the World) battled it out in front of the F Word diners. Only six made it through to the semi-finals with the nail-biting final between Lasan and The Pheasant gastro pub in Cambridgeshire.

Lasan head chef Aktar Islam and his co-chef Aysan Shaikh won their showdown to land the title after four months of challenges. In a final bid to impress, Jay (of The Pheasant) rustled up a tasty tarte tatin while Aktar served traditional Indian sweet - halva parcels with strawberry coulis. The Pheasant's pud was a roaring success and the diners much prefered it to Lasan's carrot filled cuisine, but it was Aktars ginger chicken starter and specially marinated rump steak which impressed the F Word diners, made up of the world's most prestigious food critics. On announcing the winner, Gordon Ramsay said "Lasan is everything a great local Indian should be".

Birmingham-born Aktar said the victory was a triumph for Indian cuisine and his home city - and said his new target was to make Lasan the first Michelin-star Indian restaurant in Birmingham.

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