Three Southampton curry houses reach the final

Southampton has always had no shortage of curry houses, but three of them are now in the running for something a bit more official. The Chennai Lounge, Spice 87 and Spice Kitchen have all made the final of the Asian Curry Awards, the ceremony that has earned the nickname the 'Curry Oscars', and they are not alone in the region: New Forest favourite Rivaaz in Lymington and Prachee Port Solent are also on the list.

The shortlist for the 16th annual awards was decided by a public vote across the UK, which is a fair way to do it given how much of the judging comes down to where people actually want to eat. The three Southampton-area finalists sit on a national shortlist of 213, so getting through to this stage is no small thing. From there, the process turns professional: judges will visit and inspect the finalists before the winners are announced at a gala dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Sunday 15 November. The evening is hosted by BBC News presenter Samantha Simmonds alongside Anisa Khan, who came runner-up on the 2025 series of The Apprentice.

Behind the scenes, the awards are run by the Asian Catering Federation, a non-profit, non-political Bangladeshi professional organisation that represents British-Bangladeshi and wider Asian restaurant and catering businesses across the UK. Its chairman, Yawar Khan, has described the awards as something that sets the standard for excellence across all aspects of the industry and celebrates the best of the best. The categories cover a lot of ground, from fine dining and casual dining to street food, newcomer of the year, takeaway of the year and regional restaurant titles across the south east, so there is room for everything from a proper night out to a reliable midweek takeaway.

Spice 87 is having a particularly busy autumn. Alongside its place in the Asian Curry Awards, it has also been shortlisted for the 2026 Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards, with winners due to be revealed on Monday 12 October at the London Hilton on Park Lane. In the Regional Takeaway of the Year category for the South Central region, it sits alongside the likes of Indian Summer in Park Gate and Jaipur Express in Hythe, while in the Regional Restaurant of the Year category it is up against the likes of Curry Cave in Newbury and Spice Merchants in Southsea. It is a good reminder that the competition for these titles is genuinely regional, with restaurants from Reading, Abingdon and Portsmouth all in the same mix.

For anyone wanting to get a taste of the finalists before the winners are announced, the Chennai Lounge is the one to know in the city, with Head Chef Kanagaraj Sundarraj and Assistant Head Chef Jinaka Madhu at the helm. Whether you go for a celebratory meal or just a normal Tuesday night, it is worth remembering that these places have been voted onto a national shortlist by people who actually eat there. With the gala dinner still a few weeks off, there is plenty of time to pick one and see what all the fuss is about.