Blue Rupee leaves its rivals green with envy
Liam Ali was at the bottom of the food chain when he first entered the restaurant business.
While his dad was front of house welcoming customers into their family-run Indian restaurant, Liam was stood in a corner of the kitchen washing the dishes.
If he wasn’t scrubbing curry sauce from plates, Liam was peeling an onion or other odd small kitchen jobs that needed doing at the Rutherglen eatery.
Not the most glamourous job, but then again, he might well have been the only 12-year-old boy in Rutherglen with a job.
That was almost 20 years ago, and his early introduction to the family business equipped Liam with skills and knowledge that have paid off big time.
Four years ago, Liam began running The Blue Rupee restaurant on East Kilbride Road and took the place in a new, modern direction.
In the past year, Liam has gone from cleaning dishes to cleaning up with restaurant awards.
The Blue Rupee was named Best Indian Restaurant at last month’s 2018 Glasgow Awards, having also been shortlisted for the title the previous year.
The Rutherglen restaurant also won the Best Casual Dining title at the Spice Awards in December 2017, was highly commended at The Curry Awards in Glasgow in March this year, and then was a finalist for Best Takeaway and Best Indian Restaurant categories at The Hospitality Awards in Glasgow the following month.
It’s an incredible run in just one year, considering that the family business had never been recognised previously.
It proves that hard work pays off as Liam works in the restaurant seven days per week, supported by girlfriend Roisin, and with a team of 11 employees. It all began back in 2000 when Liam’s father took him under his wing in the restaurant world.
Liam, 30, said: “I began washing the dishes because I think my dad wanted to keep me off the streets with a weekend job.
“So he’d have me working doing dishes, peeling onions in the kitchen, or doing other odd jobs.
“I later began working in the takeaway area, dealing with customers, and eventually moved into the restaurant where I began basically standing in the corner as a helper when needed.
“I went properly into the business at age 16 straight from school.”
Liam and girlfriend Roisin attended last month’s glitzy 2018 Glasgow Awards ceremony at The Crowne Plaza Hotel.
And they were surprised, but delighted, to pick up the Best Indian Restaurant honour for the Glasgow region. Liam told The Reformer: “Even just being a finalist in the awards was a big achievement for us.
“It proves that we’re going in the right direction.
“It’s usually restaurants in the city centre that get all the limelight. Places like ours in outlying areas are usually side-tracked, but our great reputation is spreading.
“We now regularly have customers travelling from various places to eat in the restaurant. People from Motherwell, Wishaw, and East Kilbride, and other towns not just in the immediate surrounding areas.
“The awards we’re winning are helping to attract these new customers, but the quality of our food really speaks for itself.
“Our hospitality and customer service are spot on too.
“It took lots of hard work and a few years to get where we are today, but we’re excited for the future of the restaurant.”
It took lots of hard work and a few years to get to where we are ... but we’re excited for the future of the restaurant