A group of food-loving friends have served up a list of the best curry houses in St Albans.

The unofficial St Albans Curry Club’ visited 12 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in 2015 and found Chilli Bar and Kitchen on London Road to be the best.

The restaurant scored an average of 8.4 out of 10 after being rated by the five friends, who take into consideration more than just the quality of food at each meal,

Service, atmosphere and quality of amenities are all factored in to each member’s final mark.

Club coordinator Sam Pillar, 38, of St Albans, described how the group got together.

He said, “The five of us have always liked going for curries in a group and one day we decided to make it a little bit more scientific.

“We wanted to have a level of consistency so each of us have a set dish that we order each time.

“The best thing about the whole year was that we got to eat at places we hadn’t been to before.”

Sam, who works in London, explained how the Chilli Bar had emerged the winner.

He said; “Chilli Bar outshone the competition. It’s an excellent restaurant by anyone’s standards with exemplary service - probably some of the best at any restaurant in the area - and a fantastic menu which wows in every department.” .

In addition to drawing up a plan for 2016, the five friends have also considered a similar system for Italian restaurants in the city.

St Albans Curry Club top 3 Indian Restaurants 2015:

1) Chilli Bar & Kitchen (8.4)

2) New Gulshan (8.0)

3) Veer Dara (8.0)