This Week in Asia

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds hails UK restaurant for serving 'best Indian food in Europe'

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds has become the latest Hollywood A-lister to give a thumbs up to Indian food after he recently raved about a restaurant in Britain serving cuisine from the South Asian nation.

Reynolds last week shared a pamphlet from the Light of India eatery on Instagram, declaring it served the "best Indian food in Europe" to his 44 million followers.

The Deadpool star visited the family-run restaurant in the northwestern town of Ellesmere Port in Cheshire to reportedly celebrate his football team Wrexham AFC's win over Maidstone United in a National League game.

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Reynolds bought the Welsh football club with fellow actor Rob McElhenney in 2020.

It was not clear if Reynolds dined at the 42-year-old establishment or ordered takeaway from there, The Guardian reported.

While the actor's social media post propelled the restaurant into the spotlight, its owners, Rajia Rahaman and her husband, Rahaman Batan, acknowledged they did not know who Reynolds was.

"The first we knew anything about it was when Ryan posted his review. We asked my parents if he had been in but they didn't even know who he was," said Shaa Rahaman, the couple's son.

"It's crazy. To think he says we're the best in Europe - Europe is a pretty big place. We're glad he enjoyed his meal."

The younger Rahaman added he would like to contact Reynolds to see if the diner could name a dish in honour of him, for example "the Deadpool masala".

Indian cuisine has grown in popularity among celebrities in recent years.

In June, Johnny Depp enjoyed a meal at Varanasi, an Indian restaurant in Britain's Birmingham, where the Pirates of the Caribbean star reportedly spent US$62,000.

A few years ago, Tom Cruise satisfied his Indian food cravings by tucking into lavish fare worth hundreds of dollars with his team at Sula, an Indian eatery in Canada's Vancouver.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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