Our Story

THE BRAND

Since arriving on the Helensburgh food scene in 2014, Annaya’s rapidly gained a reputation for fine cuisine from the sub-continent with our commitment to home-style ‘Desi’ cooking. This has been achieved by our dedicated team with combined experience of over six decades in the Indian food industry and their dedication to only using the best local produce, fresh herbs & spices. 

Healthy eating is at the forefront of our ethos as a company and this is shown by our pledge to only using Rapeseed Oil in our cooking, minimum food colouring and no unnecessary additives. 

Our success is also down to the customer, from the day we opened our doors and welcomed locals in till now, your support has been second to none. It has allowed our team to dream and create new dishes and continue improving. Our chefs hail from India & Pakistan, which is represented through our connoisseur specials within our A La Carte menu and our blackboard specials which have become synonymous with our style of cooking. These spectacular dishes demonstrate what we’re trying to achieve here at Annaya’s. 

Helensburgh, as a town, is not short of delicious eateries from around the world with a handful of Indian restaurants & takeaways so avoiding complacency is always at the top of our agenda. 

We are now expanding with a second restaurant in the stunning town of Balloch where we hope to have a similar impact. Its only fitting that in our tenth year in business, we take our style of cooking to satisfy palates further afield!

THE BRAINS



Our one & only head chef and owner Zak fell into the Indian food trade almost accidentally in his late teens whilst at college. He learnt his craft managing some of the top Indian restaurants in Scotland. Fast forward 30 years, Zak has adapted himself into a head chef honing his cooking skills taking positives from the great chefs he’s worked with over the years. With Annaya’s, he leads a team of talented chefs who have total freedom to dream and create new dishes, experimenting with new flavours & always willing to try new things. Zak’s leadership & passion for cooking has led us to win many highly coveted national awards over previous years. He is a true believer in nothing can be achieved without the collective effort of a team towards a common goal.

A special mention must go to his nephew and business partner Ibby who has been a rock for Zak in all the highs and lows that come with operating one of Scotland’s best Indian restaurants. He first spotted the former Teak and Ash pub and had the vision of creating a restaurant there. Ibby is a bit of a local hero himself, well known in the area for over two decades through his convenience store in Garelochhead and a big reason why Annaya’s first came to Helensburgh.

You cannot talk about Annaya’s without mentioning a special individual who needs no introduction, our success wouldn’t be possible without his relentless input, dedication and hard work over the years to making the business what it is today. His passion and enthusiasm for our style of cooking is famous, whether it be his excellent knowledge of the dishes he so proudly serves. He’s the man, the myth, the legend Mr Rocky Aziz.

Together this team continues to proudly serve the wonderful people of Helensburgh for the past decade!