New Indian restaurant to open on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield

The as yet unnamed restaurant will open on the site of the former Peter Hill fine art gallery and will include a limited range of dishes to showcase an authentic, home-cooked Indian style.

Zak Rehman has partnered with his long time friend Imran Malik on their first joint business venture and the pair are excited to spice up Ecclesall Road’s restaurant scene.

Zak said:” It is going to be apna style (cooked in an authentically Asian tradition), proper home cooked food and proper curry. If you came to my house and you wanted a curry that is what these dishes will taste like.

"We’re not going to have 10,000 dishes, we might have eight or ten. We are perfecting a slicker menu. There is a hunger for that down Ecclesall Road. When I decided to open the restaurant I had people coming up to me and telling me it should be a home-cooked style.

“I met Imran ten years ago when I did work on his property refurbishment and we became friends. We are like brothers now, we do everything together but this is our first joint business venture.”

The venue, which Zak hopes will be ready to open in two months time, will have outdoor seating and be fully licensed.

Zak added: “We are renovating the venue, but we will keep aspects of what it was like as a gallery. It will have a vintage look and offer a nice and relaxing atmosphere. It will be comfortable with dimmed lights, and nice and chilled. We are targeting professionals and an older generation.

“The restaurant will help improve the diversity of the food scene in the area.”

The new venue will join a raft of curry houses in Sheffield, but Zak is confident that his focus on a curated menu and a traditional taste will be a winning formula.