Asian Curry Awards Shortlist Announced

BBC's Babita Sharma to host glittering ceremony 

The eagerly-awaited short-list for this year's Asian Curry Awards has been announced.  The winners will be revealed at a glittering awards-ceremony, hosted by BBC broadcaster Babita Sharman, at Grosvenor House, in Mayfair on Sunday 18th November.

The short-list, which was determined by more than 100,000 votes from the curry loving public, can be seen at www.asiancurryawards.com/asian-curry-awards-2018-the-shortlist

A team of judges led by Pat Chapman, the editor and founder of the Cobra Good Curry Guide is now touriing the country visiting short-listed restaurants. 

At the awards, winners will be announced for:

• Asian Restaurant of the Year
• Healthy Eating Restaurant of the Year
• Best Restaurant of the Year
• Best Chain
• Newcomer of the Year
• Event Caterer of the Year
• JUST EAT Best Takeaway
• Asian Hospitality Entrepreneur of the Year
• Best International Asian Restaurant
• Best Fine Dining
• Best Casual Dining Restaurant
• Asian Chef of the Year
• Curry King of the Year
• Best Buffet
• Best Maitre D'
• Lifetime Achievement Award

There are also 10 regional awards for the Best South Asian restaurants in London, London suburbs, South East, South West, East, South Coast, North, Midlands, Wales and Scotland & Northern Ireland. 

The Asian Curry Awards are organised by the Asian Catering Federation, which represents the nation's 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants and takeaways. These are the only awards open to all cuisines from the entire Asian Continent stretching from Istanbul to Tokyo.

“The demand for delicious, spicy food has never been greater - but competition is fierce and the industry faces many challenges, not the least of which is the uncertainty surrounding restaurateurs' ability recruit oversea worker post-Brexit,” said Asian Curry Awards chairman, Yawar Khan. “These awards are designed to encourage our young people to embark on a career into the restaurant industry and recognise the efforts, creativity and skill of the pioneers who our driving standards ever higher.”

Babita Sharma is a BBC News presenter, regularly seen on the BBC's News Channel, World News, and the show Newsday. Her work has included producing the BBC documentary Booze, Beans & Bhajis a 5-episode documentary, where Babita explored the growing and shifting fortunes of the British corner shop to discover why the 'unsung hero' has been at the centre of ordinary lives for over 70 years.

Tickets for the awards are available via www.asiancurryawards.com

Editors' Notes:  

The Awards are a joint initiative from the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers (FoBC) and the Asian Caterers Federation (ACF).

The awards are open to that have been trading for at least 12 months and have a minimum 4-star hygiene rating, with a plan to boost this to 5 stars.

Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers.  The “voice of the curry industry” is a nationwide non-profit making and non-political organisation, led by the Westminster Press and Parliamentary office – which lobbies on MPs, Government and Whitehall, promoting and protecting the interests of the curry industry in Britain. 

The FoBC viewpoint delivers a wide range of high-quality business services to its members.  The Bangladeshi dominated curry industry contributes approximately £4.5 billion to the British economy and creates about 100,000 employment opportunities.

Asian Catering Federation “Uniting the Asian Food Industry's a sister organisation with a similar objective representing restaurateurs outside the Bangladeshi community across the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, with members drawn from the Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Burmese, Korean, Singaporean and India restaurant sectors.

Media Contact:  George Shaw, Avocado Media

T: 01892 750851  M: 07860 695555 geo@avocadomedia.co.uk

Yawar Khan, Chairman, Asian Curry Awards

No 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8JR T: 020 83956820  M: 07939 936 786       

E: info@asiancurryawards.com W: www.asiancurryawards.com @AsianCurryAward