A South Indian restaurant has served its first prospects in Middlesbrough – and it is already getting rave critiques.

Uttapam is the brainchild of IT employee Siva Govender and his spouse Lata Borude, an NHS physician, and is a dream come true for the couple who’ve spent years dreaming of opening their first restaurant. Now Uttapam could possibly be about to fill the Dosa-shaped gap in Teessiders’ hearts, after the quantity one-rated eatery closed in 2017.

Siva and Lata have reworked the outdated Benny’s American Diner on Borough Road, next to The Bottled Note pub. And prospects have already branded Uttapam a ‘sturdy 9/10’ for its genuine dishes, “friendly staff” and “reasonable prices”.

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There’s “live cooking” within the restaurant so diners can see the meals being made. The restaurant has additionally utilized for an alcohol licence.

“We both just said ‘let’s give it a go’, it’s our first venture, ” mentioned Siva. “There are plenty of Indian college students at Teesside University, however the vegetarian choices weren’t there for them. My spouse mentioned ‘I simply need to make easy, Indian meals for them’.

“I took it to the next level,” he laughed, “it’s not so simple any more. It’s been about a year in the planning, we’ve been renovating and redesigning. But we’ve been talking about it for four or five years.”

The exterior is completed and the ending touches are being made to the within. “I think it’s reached the vision we wanted,” he added. “The constructing was vacant for a while, very darkish and dingy. We’ve spent about 5 months renovating and fixing the structural issues.

“It took us three months to get the gas connected. That was our biggest headache. I haven’t stopped.”

Siva and Lata wished to make the whole lot as “authentic” as doable, from the chrome steel serving dishes to the artwork on the partitions, which has been created by a South Indian painter.

Uttapam can seat 32 and the kitchen can be doing takeaways, with deliveries to observe quickly. “We will be taking on more chefs in the next couple of weeks,” Siva provides. “We bought a chef from South India.

“The menu is basically not like something you’d discover in North India. The response has been superb, we’re very happy about it. They are fully completely different niches, by way of North and South India. We are attempting to do one thing completely different.

“On our first day, we opened at 8am and had our first customer at 8.02am. Word of mouth is going around. On Saturday, we were still serving at 11pm, the crowds kept coming in.”

‘Best Indian snack I ever had’

An uttapam is a kind of dosa – or pancake – from South India, which is thicker and has toppings. “Everyone still remembers Dosa,” Siva added, “I think that’s what the public was missing.”

Fans of the restaurant have known as it a “great addition” to Middlesbrough. “A different twist on what you might normally expect from Indian/ Asian restaurants,” one particular person wrote, “the staff were helpful and friendly especially Anvi, she took care of our table from the start to end , definitely will be back.”

Posting on the Rate My Takeaway Teesside Facebook web page, one lady mentioned: “Got vada sambhar, which was the perfect Indian snack I ever had. The coconut and chilli dips have been stuffed with flavours, I may eat all of it day.

“Prices are reasonable too. I definitely recommend trying this one if you like Indian food.”

Uttapam is open from 5-10pm Monday to Thursday and midday to 10pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

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