There’s been no shortage of new openings in Shipley over the past few years. New additions to the food and drink offering have made Shipley and Saltaire a firm favourite with people looking for a bite to eat or a night out.
Continuing this development of the culinary offering in the area, the newest addition is the Crafty Indian, which can be found on Bradford Road in Shipley in the building which formerly house Zaara’s Indian Restaurant. Owner Harry Khinda felt that it was time to shake things up and offer a more diverse, modern and inviting proposition, with a firm focus on exceptional Indian Street Food and a selection of craft beers, specially chosen to complement the food.
The restaurant held its opening evening last week and is now open to the public. Many who’ve driven or walked past the site whilst the refurb has been happening will have found it difficult to avoid the vibrant, colourful interior and the creative signage which invites customers in to try something different.
In an interview with a local newspaper last week Mr Khinda gave more information about his venture and what people can expect from the Crafty Indian “It [Zaara’s] was a little bit quiet and it needed an injection of something, so I spent a year thinking about what we could do, and how we could do it, and decided we needed a concept rather than just another business.
“I created a concept and then we’ve put it together.
“We’ve really brought it to life, including lots of vibrant colours which are very popular in India, as well as food items.
“We’ve not used an interior designer, we’ve done it all ourselves, just by seeing what works. I was speaking to a designer but they weren’t listening to what we wanted.”
Although the concept of coupling beer and street food is nothing new in bigger cities, it’s something that’s yet to be realised in Bradford, until now. Khinda continued
“The beer we’ve gone for is pure craft beer – nothing is mass produced and obviously beer and Indian food go together. We just felt something was missing in Bradford.
“We’re spoilt for choice but I thought this was it, there’s not anything like this in Bradford.
“A lot of people have left Bradford to do this kind of thing, but I’ve taken the plunge to do it here and stayed loyal, so I’m hoping to see the support.”
“The food itself is Indian street food.
“There’s no Kormas, no Tikka Masalas
“It’s a lot of finger food, for sharing”
As well as the new concept, Mr Khinda hopes to have a positive impact in terms of sustainability and reducing the use of plastic, especially when it comes to take away food. What’s more, he’s committed to supporting the local economy by using Yorkshire farms to source his ingredients.
Mr Khinda said: “The other thing we do, we’ve sourced our chicken and lamb from Yorkshire farms. An important feature is, we’re doing away with plastic takeaway bags and containers. We’re selling metal tiffins, so you can bring them in and take your food away in them – they’ve got a handle on it and boxes in it.”
Following the launch, there have been several reviews of the food an atmosphere, with one visitor saying “Superb! Delicious, fresh tasty food. Good selection of craft beers, lovely atmosphere, service impeccable. Will be back for more.”
If you’ve not yet visited, or don’t have any plans to – we highly recommend putting a date in the diary. The restaurant is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm – 11pm in the week and opening at 12noon on weekends.
For more details, search for The Crafty Indian on Facebook.
