2017 – A Year in Review
With the dark shadow of Brexit continuing to loom large over us, 2017 will be remembered by many restaurateurs across the country, particularly those running curry houses, as a year of hardship and struggle.
It has been reported that the government’s immigration policies in a post-Brexit Britain has resulted in a shortage of qualified chefs that is forcing curry houses to close down at a rate of four per week. And the crisis is such that it recently prompted Lib Dem MP Sir Vince Cable to call for the temporary introduction of what has been dubbed a “vindaloo visa” to save the nation’s “favorite cuisine”. In spite of this though, the UK’s Halal food industry appears to be doing fairly well.
This year, London saw the successful introduction of the country’s first fully Halal street food festival, Street Eats, by the digital magazine Halal Gems.
We also saw a second Muslim amateur chef again triumph on a BBC cookery show. Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed wowed presenters Greg Wallace and John Torode with her East-meets-West fusion cooking to win this year’s MasterChef competition.
Meanwhile “the nation’s sweetheart” Nadiya Hussain, who won the Great British Bake Off in 2015, has continued to go from strength to strength by publishing her second cook book, while also presenting two prime-time BBC2 cookery shows, as well as an endearing series exploring her culinary roots back in Bangladesh.
Amidst all this, Feed the Lion has experienced its most successful year, which includes being shortlisted for 2018’s inaugural Halal Awards in January. With more articles published and more online traffic than ever before, we, as always, have not only been at the forefront of announcing the New Opening of restaurants, but also managed to make Ramadan our most popular month of the year, with our hugely popular ‘30 Days of Delight‘ competition extravaganza, which saw 30 prizes given away over the course of 30 days. And so while we look forward to an even bigger 2018, here’s a break down of how successful FtL has been during a relatively turbulent 2017.
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Thank you to all 141,226 ‘unique’ foodies for viewing #FtLion
Top 9 Instagram Posts (198 total images)
90 YouTube Videos Published
Our most popular video this year was Dinner Time Story, La Petit Chef (Dubai) with 12,487 views.
Dinner Time Story will be coming to London in 2018. Stay tuned…
69 New Restaurant Openings
Leicester’s Boo Burgers Keeps It Short And Simple was the highest viewed ‘New Restaurant Opening‘ with 9834 views!
60 Restaurant Reviews
Grand Trunk Road was 2017’s first 5/5 FtL rating, and only the third restaurant overall to achieve this feat.
53 News Articles
As the UK’s premier Halal food news site, not only did we cover important news ranging from the selfless charity work to the success of Halal enjoyed at the annual food awards, but also published a number of breaking news pieces. Our most popular article, however, was P.F. Chang’s In London Goes ‘100% Halal’ with 5671 views.
44 Featured Editorials
Featured Editorials have been a central pilar for FtL’s editorial output. Similar to every year, however, our most popular editorial (shamelessly replicated by some, though never surpassed!) was the Ramadan Iftar ‘N Suhoor In London And Beyond.
28 “Your Say” Reviews
One of the reasons FtL was launched was to provide a platform for the many who pay good money visiting restaurants to have their voices heard. Our ‘Your Say’ section is, therefore, as important a section as any other. Thank you to each and everyone of you who’ve contributed towards furthering this site’s objective and empowering you, the good consumers.
We’ve received reviews from as far away as Mumbai, India: Bombaylicious Enjoy The Fusion Kitchen In Mumbai.
20 Discount & Offers
Exclusive discounts and offers right here with Feed The Lion. Here is an example: 25% off at Chicago Steakhouse.
12 Recipes
Recipes from celebrity and amateur chefs, including a number of exclusive recipes contributed by none other than the 2015 winner of the then BBC’s Great British Bake Off, Nadiya Hussain.
