Owners of Surjits Indian Restaurant could not believe their luck when they found out that they had won the ‘Most Outstanding Restaurant’ category in Sydney’s Inner West Local Business Awards.
“This award is from the Inner West Council…if I’m not wrong, it’s one of the biggest council areas in Sydney”, said Rasan, owner of Surjit’s Indian Restaurant. Image
It all started with a regular customer insisting that they should fill the nomination award for the awards. Once, the nomination was done, they had good support and following on social media which shortlisted them as a finalist for the category.
Then they went through a rigorous process of completing a detailed questionnaire on their service, quality, sustainability, charity work etc which accounted towards 30% of the score.
Rasan mentioned that in the last step the judges or assessors came into the restaurant without revealing their identity. These secret diners check everything from the quality of food, to the ambiance of the place and how the restaurant and staff handle complaints from customers.
The owners of the restaurant got an invite to attend the award function and it was just until their name was announced that they knew they were the winners.
“Actually it was quite interesting because when they were showing the slides for the finalists, ours was the second last slide and we didn’t think we will make it….they had not even taken any photos from us.”
According to Rasan, it is the first time in the 30 or so year history of the awards, that an Indian restaurant has been given this award.
“In our area, Italian restaurants dominate, so it was lovely to win this award” “Surjit’s Indian Restaurant has won this award but this award is for all Indians and we believe that Indian food should become more popular and grow more in Australia”.
Surjit’s Indian Restaurant was established in 1985 by Mr Surjit Singh. He has been running the restaurant ever since and it was only around ten year ago that his son Rasan took over. But even now, Surjit is very much a part of the place and visits and interacts with customers on a daily basis.
Rasan attributes their success to the care they give in preparation of their meals and a careful selection of staff that are loved and respected and who in return take equal care of the customers.
Source: Supplied
“We work very hard and chose our staff very carefully. We give love and care to our staff and we receive the same in return and that I’m very proud of.”
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