24th June 2017
Winners of the Asian Restaurant Awards were revealed at a glittering awards ceremony at the Manchester Hilton, on Sunday 23rd June.
Top accolades went to Asma Khan’s Darljeeling Express (Best Asian Restaurant – London); Indian Accent (Asian Gourmet Restaurant of the Year); Bindu Patel’s hot new Sancta vegan restaurant in Leicester was named Best Vegan.
Everest Inn (Best Nepalese), Romulo Café won Best Filipino; Bistro Mirey (Best Japanese); Petite Coree (Best Korean); Saigon-Siagon (Best Vietnamese); Midpoint (Middle Eastern) and Shola (Best Pakistani).
Panda Mami in Chester won Best Buffet.
Ijazz in Wrexham was named Best Asian Restaurant – Wales and Yaks in Bangor Best Asian Restaurant – Northern Ireland.
There was also a special accolade for Aurangzeb Almgeer Khan of Kabana in Huddersfield, (Spirit in the Community Award). There were Community Impact Awards for Mohammed Ahad, Mohammed Kayes, Mohammed Azim and Mohammed Majid. Shabir Hussain, owner of the Akbar Restaurant Group received the Industry Pioneer Award. Liquat Ali of Aagrah in Doncaster received a Life Time Achievement award.
Dev Biswal of The Ambrette restaurants in Kent was named Asian Chef of the Year.
In his welcoming speech, Asian Catering Federation chairman Yawar Khan who acknowledged these challenging times for the hospitality sector, said: “There will be those that complain and do nothing. Then there will also be those that continue to innovate and raise standards. We are in a growing market. More people are eating out and ordering takeaways than ever before.”
The evening, attended 500 leading restaurateurs, chefs, food writers and VIP guests was co-hosted by BBC TV news anchor, Samantha Simmonds and the British-Asian comedian Mani Liaqat.
Over 100,000 public votes determined the shortlist of the nation’s favourite Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants and takeaways.
The full list of regional awards winners can be viewed at www.asianrestaurantawards.org
.