The Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards (ARTA) have announced which of the UK’s top Asian restaurants, chefs and takeaways have been crowned winners for this year. ARTA is one of the largest celebrations of Britain’s vibrant Asian restaurants and takeaway industry and the final was held last night (October 8) in London.
The coveted awards are in recognition of the UK’s best of Asian cuisine across a series of prestigious regional and national categories, and numerous establishments in Greater Manchester were named finalists, with one spot being crowned ‘Champion of Champions’ on the night. The Milnrow Balti in Milnrow near Rochdale was presented with the accolade, as well as winning the award of ‘Regional Restaurant of the Year: North West’ for the second year in a row.
Of the finalists, there were a number of restaurants in Greater Manchester up for ARTA awards including Spice Valley in Horwich and Achari in Bolton battling it out against Paneer in Wallasey and The Milnrow Balti for ‘Regional Restaurant of the Year: North West’. Plus, Sapporo Teppanyaki in Manchester city centre was nominated for the award of ‘Japanese Restaurant of the Year’, however the 2023 winner was Maneki Ramen in Worcester.
Last year’s winner of ‘National Takeaway of the Year’ award, Bombay Cuisine in Prestwich, was also announced as a finalist for ‘Regional Takeaway of the Year: North West’. The takeaway competed against Arong Tandoori in Liverpool, Akash in Accrington and Bradshaw Tandoori in Bradshaw, Bolton, with the 2023 winner being Bradshaw Tandoori.
Entrants are nominated by the restaurant goers and food lovers of over 700,000 customer base of ARTA’s strategic partner, ChefOnline – the digital application to order food and book tables on the go – to unveil the finalists.
Restaurants are awarded based on three key factors: quality of food, quality of service and value for money, followed by the ARTA score, which includes Food Hygiene Rating and reviews from websites like TripAdvisor and Google. Restaurants that made it through the gruelling first phase were judged and invited to participate in a cook-off competition. The score included various factors including flavour, appearance, texture, hygiene and aroma.
Additional awards presented on the night included Champion of Champions; National Chef of the Year; and National Takeaway of the Year.