JazBa Bar and Spice Grill rated number one restaurant

Photo: Doliz Miah Photography

Farooq and Shefali Ahmed at JazBa

JazBa Bar and Spice Grill, in Heywood, was rated the number one restaurant in Greater Manchester on TripAdvisor ahead of 4,706 other restaurants across the region.

Though just this week pushed to second place in the Greater Manchester region by a Bury restaurant, this still places JazBa as the number one restaurant across the Rochdale Borough.

An overwhelming 98% of JazBa’s reviews on TripAdvisor are rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.

Owner Farooq Ahmed said: “It’s been fabulous; a remarkable start to the new year. Everyone has been congratulating us as the news has spread overwhelmingly fast.

“It’s been nice to hit the number one spot in just six months. All our staff have put in a lot of hard work, time and effort to ensure our customers have high quality food. They’ve all done very well from kitchen to the service at the front. My staff have always been there for me.

“It’s exciting because people have travelled from all over Greater Manchester to visit us, including people with allergies because we cater for things like coeliac disease and lactose intolerance. We’ve a lot of vegetarian customers who’ve said they’ve had their best curries at JazBa.

“I’d like to thank all who have supported us, especially my wife, Shefali. She’s been my main support after I had to close Veenas [Farooq’s previous restaurant], and shutting the doors was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. She’s been there to pick up the pieces and encouraged me to keep going.”

He added: “I’m really proud for our town that we’ve achieved this and hope to continue to see new faces.

“We’re aiming high to become the best in the UK.”