Physician cooks up low-fat healthy options

Jul 20 2007 By Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

A MERSEYSIDE hospital consultant and his family are opening an Indian restaurant with a difference – to try to end the belief that all curry is bad for you.

Mashood Siddiqi, by day a consultant physician at Aintree Hospital, and his wife, son, daughter and son-in-law have created Mayur in Liverpool, a five-star restaurant that serves an array of Indian specialities including healthy grilled options, seafood and game.

Dr Siddiqi, who lives in Blundellsands, said: "My family and I noticed a lack of good-quality authentic Indian restaurants in Liverpool and often found we had to travel to Manchester’s curry mile, so we decided to open a new establish- ment.

"So many people think Indian food is unhealthy but many options are not – cooking methods such as Tandoori are good for you, as it is dry with little fat.

"We have wanted to do this for over four years and finally the restaurant is ready. It is very exciting.

"The menu offers a big choice, although we have tried to keep it manageable and have carefully selected the dishes."

Mayur, which opened for business last night, is situated on Duke Street, near a clutch of other relatively new eateries including the Italian Il Forno and the Japanese, Sapporo.

The interior of Mayur bears more of a resemblance to one of Liverpool’s coolest bars with specially imported Italian designer furniture, hand- crafted Indian feature pieces and other materials including plush red velvet, gilded chairs and designer wallpaper adorning the walls of the eating and drinking areas.

Mayur can fit in around 160 covers, making it one of the largest restaurants in the city with areas laid aside for private parties and business groups.

Head chef Uday Seth has an established five-star background, having worked for The Taj group back in Delhi.

His team have worked in venues across the globe in countries such as Mauritius and Singapore.

He said: "The menu will revolutionise your palate. For example, one of our signature dishes will be Murgh Tikka Labab and we’ll be hosting complimentary dining opportunities for selected guests in our opening weeks so people can relate to how good and unique we believe our cooking is."

Mayur will open for lunch from noon until 2.30pm and re-open in the evening from 5-11pm, closing at midnight at the weekends.

A grand opening will be held in August.

Son-in-law Suhail Ahmed added: "We wanted to update what some of the five-star venues in India and London have to offer and establish something very special in Liverpool."

lizawilliams@dailypost.co.uk