Esholt Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Mohammed Sabir was still working as a bus driver in Shipley when he launched his Kashmiri curry business as a mobile takeaway from his Commer van, the ‘Spice Box’ in 1976. The next year he opened his first bricks-and-mortar restaurant Aagrah, which still wins consistently solid marks for its food and has nine branches across Yorkshire.

2024 Review: A “fantastic setting beside the River Wharfe” provides the perfect backdrop for “good Italian food and friendly service” from Alessandro & Sofia Elena Tocca, who have established a strong local following over more than 20 years. Their Italian take on the classic Sunday roast is a highlight of the menu.

“If you want to know how the best Pakistani curries taste, come to Akbar’s” – a “fun and buzzy” spot that, according to one local reporter, is “the curry house I always tip to visitors” (“the authentic section of the menu is full of the most incredible flavours”). Charismatic founder Shabir Hussain (known to friends and admirers as ‘Bash’, ‘the King of Curry’) sadly died in 2024; his funeral attracted 5,000 mourners. He started out with a 28-seat canteen, which he expanded over three decades into a group of 10 venues from Birmingham to Glasgow.

“What a delightful restaurant!” chorus the many fans of this “real French-style local bistro” that “oozes charisma and charm” – and provided several reporters with their “most enjoyable food experience of the year”. Opened in early 2024 by Yorkshire-born chef Sandy Jarvis (ex-Terroirs) and his husband Clement Cousin, who runs the front of house in “chatty, friendly style”, it has notched up accolades including a rave May 2025 review from the FT’s Jay Rayner, who hailed it as a “fantasy of French bourgeois life made real”. Top Menu Tip – “Cote de Boeuf, cooked to perfection”.