THE award-winning and long-standing Maya Indian Restaurant in Fremantle is set to close at the end of September.

Gurps Bagga and his family have run the restaurant for 26 years and he says while the port city’s undergoing a wave of change it was time for something fresh.

“We have grown with Freo and it’s time to let go,” Mr Bagga said.

• Gurps Bagga outside the Maya Indian Restaurant in Fremantle. Photo by Meagan Barrett

“This isn’t a sad story, we’re happy with the memories made,” he said when asked whether the city’s economic slump had played a part in his decision to close.

Maya’s walls are filled with dozens of awards and photographic memories, and Mr Bagga says they’ll be reviving some oral treasures from the past before they go.

Old favourites such as chilli whiting fillets, slow-cooked goat curry, the restaurant’s famous butter chicken (still rated one of the best in WA), prawn-a-Maya, and the hot and spicy Goan fish curry will all be back on the menu.

Mr Bagga also owns the Sauma restaurant in Northbridge.

by MEAGAN BARRETT