Myristica on King Street is officially the best Indian restaurant in Bristol.

The restaurant was among 47 others across the country that received special commendations from the judges in the 2009 British Curry Awards.

It was one of four finalists in the Best Spice Restaurant in the South West category, which was won for the third year running by Rajpoot in Argyle Street, Bath.

Myristica manager Amit Lakhani said that the award was testament to the hard work that he and his team had put into the restaurant since it opened in 2007.

All of the chefs have been headhunted from some of the best hotels and restaurants in India and all the food is prepared fresh on the premises in an open kitchen.

Mr Lakhani said that Myristica, which occupies a spacious ground-floor building opposite the Old Vic, serves the finest contemporary Indian cuisine.

He said: "We think being named the best Indian restaurant in Bristol is very deserving, even if I say so myself. We have worked very hard to get where we are.

"We like to think that we provide the best product, the best food and service, and the best ambience. We are trying to get away from the lager lout curry image. People seem to like what we do and I think we are on the right track."

The British Curry Awards ceremony in London was hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald, with Conservative party leader David Cameron as guest of honour.

Mr Cameron said: "It's a real pleasure to be here at the Oscars of the spice industry. The British curry industry is a great success story."

This year's British Curry Awards winners were chosen from a record 40,000 public nominations covering more than 2,700 restaurants.