A Summer Dine in Holmfirth

Anwar Ali of Massala Lounge

You can’t talk about Holmfirth, in the beautiful Holme Valley in West Yorkshire without mentioning the Last of the Summer Wine. Most people remember, with affection, the longest running TV comedy show of all time that followed the adventures of three retired gentlemen who just couldn’t grow up. The series was the first sitcom to be taken out of the television studios and filmed entirely on location in Holmfirth. The town’s streets, cafes and surrounding scenery became an instant tourist magnet for millions of people all over the world.

So, a stroll around Holmfirth, or Little Hollywood as it’s known locally, is a bit like a trip through sitcom nostalgia. Of course there are signs of more recent glory – the yellow bikes, reminders of the town’s starring role in the Tour de France earlier this year, still cling to the stone walls. For dining options, however, it’s hard to get away from the ilk of Sid’s Café, Compo’s Fish and Chips, the Wrinkled Stocking Tea Rooms (shades of Nora Batty), or even the oddly named Toad and Tatie. Thankfully, for those looking for the perfect antidote to Last of the Summer Wine-iness, Massala Lounge on Huddersfield Road offers the suave, sophisticated and cosmopolitan (should that be Compopolitan?), alternative.

The immaculate menu commands you to Relax, Enjoy and Indulge – and really, it’s impossible to refuse, especially in the luxurious red leather sofas that beg you to recline in their midst. Through an arch to the spacious dining area, the colour theme continues with black high backed dining chairs, red table settings and wood decking floor. Moody down-lighting highlights three dimensional walls. Look out of the picture windows at the end of the restaurant, however, and you’re back in Holmfirth. The restaurant is on the second floor and the classic view is of stone-built houses perched perilously on top of the adjacent hill, grey tiled roofs, glimpses of the distant Pennines – look down below and you can almost see the three old reprobates - Foggy, Compo and Clegg, ambling down the street…

We quickly turned back to the menu and the delights of Massala Lounge!

It was, in fact, the Last of the Summer Wine that first brought 33-year-old Anwar Ali, to Holmfirth.  He and all his family live in Bradford and, although the main family business is in property letting, they were looking for a restaurant for Anwar and his four brothers to run. Having watched the programme on TV, Anwar visited the town out of curiosity and instantly fell in love with the place.

“I decided to take a stroll round the town to see what it was all about,” he explained. “It was really, really busy. I was trying to find a place to eat and I couldn’t find any. All the other Indian restaurants were mainly down back streets, so there wasn’t really anywhere to go.”

Seeing the potential for a commercial enterprise, Anwar did some research and came up with the two-storeyed premises on Huddersfield Road. “I realised there’s a good population round here – most people are bankers or business owners, hence, more affluent, so I knew the restaurant needed to be stylish and contemporary.”

The former nightclub offered an ideal location and, with Anwar masterminding the design, the family carried out most of the refurbishment work themselves.

Massala Lounge opened in August 2009 and was a success from day one. Now, with a five year anniversary coming up the restaurant is firmly established at the heart of the Holmfirth community.

The five brothers have a demanding lifestyle. Anwar, who is father to a seven-month-old son, has worked as a Quantity Surveyor for 12 years. His brothers have equally high profile roles in accountancy and Trading Standards. How do they cope with having two full time jobs each, surely there aren’t enough hours in the day?

“We don’t look at it as a job, it’s more like a family get together than anything else,” explains Anwar. “There’s also enough of us in the family to share the work between us. You do what you have to do and when you think about it, it’s only a few hours from 5.30pm to 10pm or 11pm and although we all live in Bradford, it’s just 18 miles in distance. The restaurant is not our bread and butter but it’s our passion.”

“We’re lucky to have no staffing issues. We’ve had the same people working for us as from day one – even the weekend and kitchen staff; no-one has changed at all.”

At this point Anwar breaks off to bid good bye to a customer who leaves, thanking him profusely for the delicious food.

There certainly is an atmosphere about the place with happy and friendly waiting staff who aren’t afraid to have a banter with diners. Anwar agrees that the Last of the Summer Wine has a lasting influence and brings in many tourists but they don’t make up the majority of patrons.

“We get a lot of Canadians – it must have been a very popular show there, and a lot of Australians. But most of our customers we know by first name. We have one guy - a regular - from Amsterdam who works in Manchester every three months who always calls in and we also have clients who come from as far afield as Liverpool. It’s just that special bond that we try and cultivate. Once the customer knows you it’s nice and relaxed; the customer feels at home.”

The menu is based on traditional food from Bangladesh with a modern twist and influences from Mughlai cuisine. Starters and mains include an exotic sea food selection. The Machlee Pakora: golden crispy parcels containing spicy cod, proved delicious, as was the locally reared lamb Sonargaw served with homemade tamarind sauce.

Many ingredients are, in fact, sourced from customers and Anwar takes advantage of the plethora of farms within the area to purchase fresh vegetables, milk and chicken. Signatures offered an exciting selection of dishes including Hash Jamdhani: tender pieces of duck

breast in a chilli, garlic and tomato sauce layered with cauliflower. The Rangamati Chorchory: lamb or chicken cooked with spinach, is the restaurant’s best seller while the Sylheti Jal Jool offers a rustic taste of eastern Bangladesh. 

Anwar works with his brother Amruj Ali who is the head chef, to find new dishes: “We don’t have too many curries on the menu; we just select one or two. I have customer feedback cards so I know exactly what the customer wants and at the end of the year I’ll change the menu accordingly. I’m not a cook myself but I do know how a curry should be cooked. I come up with the ideas and then we experiment and test – a dish has to be appetising for the eyes before you taste it.”

Planned innovations to the menu this year include the addition of lobster and venison. Like the menu the wine list is also carefully selected with the Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Moët and Chandon reflecting the affluence of the area.

Although the food is undeniably outstanding (with rave reviews on Trip Advisor, the restaurant has a certificate of excellence), Massala Lounge isn’t just about the cuisine. Anwar and his brothers have made sure that the venue has become part of the local community by sponsoring sports teams, arts festivals or cultural events such as Yorkshire Day. As sponsors of the Holme Valley Scouts Mountain Bike Challenge, the restaurant annually supplies up to 750 people with free food and drinks.

Mindful that the premises were formerly a nightclub which contributed to the social life of the area, Massala Lounge also hosts special nights, get-togethers and charity fundraisers. The floor above the 80-seat restaurant still has a function room with soundproofing, a stage suitable for a band or DJ which has been the venue for many successful events including 80’s discos and Reggae nights. Anwar appreciates that the place holds poignant memories for members of the community, so it’s important to keep it as a social hub where people can meet up, relive memories and generally have a good time.

But the brothers don’t leave it there: Massala Lounge has also hosted the Holmfirth Film Festival and shows movies on a regular basis. “We generally talk to customers and see what films they want for next year and then get them in,” says Anwar. “Between May 23^rd and end of June this year, we actually showed 14 movies!”

Long before the Last of the Summer Wine, Holmfirth was the centre for the pioneering film makers Bamforth & Co Ltd and in the early 1900s the West Yorkshire film industry was even thought to surpass that of Hollywood. It’s good to see Anwar keeping the history of the place alive. And if Foggy, Compo and Clegg were still around to see it, they would have been proud.

Massala Lounge, 57-59 Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

Tel: 01484 681 172/ 01484 680 742 info@massalalounge.com

Compo, Foggy and Clegg from Last of the Summer Wine