A LOCAL restaurant with only six tables has been listed amongst the top ten curry houses in Britain.

Despite only being open for 18 months, Saffron in Innerleithen is proving popular for its poppadoms, pakodas and pav bhajis.

Dozens of diners are making their way to the High Street restaurant every day to sample the delights of head chef Mohammed Younis.

And the front of house service from co-owner, Belayet Meer, has earned them a place in TripAdvisor’s top ten curry houses of 2013.

The award came as a surprise for everyone at Saffron.

Co-owner Miranda Meer told us: “Tripadvisor phoned us last month to say that we had been selected for our good food and service. It is a great boost for everyone at the restaurant.” Saffron can only cater for 18 diners at any one time in its small restaurant.

But the conveyor belt of takeaways which fly over the counter most evenings make sure that curry lovers from across the region can enjoy Mohammed’s masterpieces.

And many of the satisfied customers have logged their delight with the country’s most read recommendation website, Tripadvisor.

Ruth from Innerleithen commented: “So lucky to have this on our doorstep. We have had a few carry-outs and were impressed by the quality of the food so decided to eat-in one evening. The place is tiny, only a few tables but the food was excellent, service attentive, prices reasonable and tables beautifully set with proper cloths and napkins.” Alan from Falkirk stated: “The service was attentive without being rushed with the starters arriving without a long wait . The quality of the food is very good considering the modest prices and I shall certainly be going back .” And Catherine from London posted: “We were recommended to eat at the Saffron and we didn’t regret it.

“Best Lamb Saag ever. Delicious Mango Lassi! Good idea to book as it was very busy when we were there.” The five-star reviews have continued with 63 out of the 74 contributors giving it an Excellent scoring - the other 11 classing it as Very Good.

In the nationwide poll Kismot in Edinburgh came out on top with Indian restaurants in East Sussex, Cheltenham, Surrey and Derbyshire making up the top five.

But Saffron made it into the top ten, at number eight, ahead of many of the country’s biggest and best-known restaurants.

Miranda added: “Belayet only started the restaurant 18 months ago after working in a local hotel. You never know for sure how things are going to go but he has worked extremely hard and it is nice to be recognised in this way.”