hungryhouse.co.uk English Curry Awards winners (From Asian Image)

hungryhouse.co.uk English Curry Awards winners

11:40pm Monday 25th July 2011 in News By Asian Image reporter

The winners of the first ever hungryhouse.co.uk English Curry Awards were announced this evening at a glittering night at The Sheridan Suite in Manchester.

Nominations came in from all over England and the race to be crowned at this year’s debut awards ceremony was an extremely tight contest.

Managing Director of hungryhouse.co.uk Shane Lake said: “The awards were a runaway success and have a set a fantastic precedent for the years to come. There was a fantastic turnout and an electric atmosphere inside The Sheridan Suite which represented the vibrant and varied talents within the room.

"This year’s awards succeeded in both raising money for a worthy charity and paying tribute to England’s thriving curry industry.”

Over 700 guests attended the prestigious awards ceremony. The awards were presented by renowned stand-up comedian Jeff Mirza.

And the winners are Curry Lover of the Year Award sponsored by Asda and presented by Helen Kirkman, Buying Manager of Asda, went to The Soldiers Charity.

Finalists in Curry Lover of the Year category: Curry Council // Mike Gatting // The Soldiers Charity.

Best Supermarket Curry Award sponsored by East End presented by Tony Deep Wouhra MBE, Chairman of East End Foods Plc, went to Waitrose.

Finalists in Best Supermarket Curry of the Year: Asda // Waitrose // Tesco.

Team of the Year Award sponsored by Asiana and Jasats Family Bakers presented by Sarwar Ahmed, Founder of Asiana and Fammeda Jasat, Business Manager of Jasats Family Bakers, went to Nawaab, Manchester.

Finalists in Team of the Year category: Cafe Lahore, Oldham // Nawaab, Manchester // Brilliant Restaurant, Southall // Maliks Tandoori Restaurant, Berkshire // Kayal Restaurant, Leicester.

Chef of the Year Award sponsored by Goldstar Chefs presented by Hans Raj Ram, CEO of Goldstar Chefs went to Gurpareet Bains, Indian Superfood.

Finalists in Chef of the Year category: Gulshan Indian Restaurant, Liverpool // Benares Restaurant, London // Gurpareet Bains, Indian Superfood // Lasans Restaurant, Birmingham // Arzoo Restaurant, Midlands.

Caterer of the Year Award sponsored by ZEE TV and presented by Vasdev Tulli, Head of Sales for Zee TV UK and Europe, went to Chak 89, London.

Finalists in the Caterer of the Year category: Curry Special, Essex // Chak 89, London // Euro Caterers, Manchester// Sukhdevs Catering Services, Birmingham // Johal Catering, Birmingham The Best of Manchester Award sponsored by The Sheridan Suite presented by Vanessa Myers, Managing Director of The Sheridan Suite went to East Z East.

Finalists in the Best of Manchester category: Zouk Tea Bar & Grill // East Z East // Mughli Restaurant + Charcoal Pit // Zaika Restaurant // Akbar's.

Curry King of the Year Award sponsored by Badshah, presented by Ahmed Saeed, Area Chief of Habib Bank AG Zurich went to Shabir Hussain.

Mr Hussain is a man who embodies the spirit of brilliant entrepreneurship coupled with achieving the highest standards in modern South Asian cuisine.

With over 20 years of experience, he is today the proud Chief Executive of over ten restaurants employing more than 400 members of staff.

Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 sponsored by Mumbai Rouge International presented by Tony Lit owner of Sunrise Radio went to Sanjay Anand.

Mr Anand is known as one of the top Asian caterers in the UK and his contribution to the Indian restaurant industry has been recognised with many accolades throughout his career.

Sanjay Anand began his business career at 17 years old and has not looked back since, working hard to create one of the UK’s most esteemed and acclaimed Indian restaurants in the country, Madhu’s Brilliant Restaurant. He continues to be an inspirational figure to any young chefs looking to build their own business in the UK.

Takeaway of the Year Award sponsored by hungryhouse.co.uk presented by Managing Director of hungryhouse Shane Lake, went to Cafe Masala, Sheffield.

Regional Takeaway of the Year winners are: North East went to Cafe Spice, Heaton, Newcastle-upon-tyne. Finalists in the North East regional category: Cafe Spice, Heaton, Newcastle-upon-tyne // Taj Mahal Indian Takeaway, Langley Moor, Durham // Balti Hut, Middlesbrough North West went to SAAJAN TAKEAWAY, Manchester.

Finalists in the North West regional category: Saajan Takeaway, Manchester // Spice King, Preston // Zaika Indian Takeaway, Liverpool Yorkshire went to CAFE MASALA, Sheffield. Finalists in the Yorkshire regional category: Cafe Masala, Sheffield // Jaldi Jaldi, Leeds // Kushboo Spice, York East Midlands went to OUT OF INDIA, Leicestershire.

Finalists in the East Midlands regional category: Spice Indian Takeaway, Nottingham // Out of India, Leicestershire // Punjabi Spice, Derby.

West Midlands went to MALIKS INDIAN TAKEAWAY, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-lyme.

Finalists in the West Midlands regional category: Mahim Indian Takeaway, Shrewsbury // Maliks Indian Takeaway, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-lyme // Sugar + Spice, Solihull.

East went to MOGHUL TANDOORI, Cambridge.

Finalists in the East regional category: Ashiana Tandoori Takeaway, Colchester // Moghul Tandoori, Cambridge // AFC, Luton.

London went to TIFFIN TIN, West Hampstead.

Finalists in the London regional category: 2 Sisters Tandoori, London // Tiffin Tin, West Hampstead // Bricklane Kitchen, London.

South East went to TEHANI, Southampton.

Finalists in the South East regional category: Tamarind, Maidenhead // Memories of India, Berkshire // Tehani, Southampton.

South West went to PAPA RAJ, Plymouth.

Finalists in the South West regional category: The Thali Café, Bristol // Master Chef, Bournemouth // Papa Raj, Plymouth.

The Restaurant of the Year Award sponsored by Mongoose, Pepsi and Harrogate Spring Water; presented by Steve Mody, co owner of Mongoose Beer, Matt Greenslade, UK Independent Wholesale Channel Manager for Britvic Soft Drinks, and James Cain Managing Director of Harrogate Spring Water, went to Mumtaz, Bradford.

The Restaurant of the Year regional winners are: North East went to The Rupali Restaurant, Newcastle.

Finalists in the North East regional category: The Magna Tandoori, Berwick-upon-tweed // The Rupali Restaurant, Newcastle // Cafe Spice Restaurant, Sunderland.

North West went to Indian Ocean, Tameside.

Finalists in the North West regional category: Indian Ocean, Tameside // Blue Tiffin Restaurant, Oldham // Indigo, Romiley.

Yorkshire went to Mumtaz, Bradford. Finalists in the Yorkshire regional category: Aagrah, Leeds // Akbar's, Bradford // Mumtaz, Bradford East Midlands went to Curry Lounge, Nottingham. Finalists in the East Midlands regional category: Curry Lounge, Nottingham // Memsaab, Nottingham // Viceroy Indian Restaurant, Derby West Midlands went to Asha’s Restaurant, Birmingham.

Finalists in the West Midlands regional category: Lasan, Birmingham // Itihaas Indian Restaurant, Birmingham // Asha's Restaurant, Birmingham East went to The Curry Queen Restaurant, Cambridge.

Finalists in the East regional category: Indian Ocean Restaurant, Luton // The Curry Queen Restaurant, Cambridge // The Banyan Tree, Peterborough London went to Tamarind Restaurant, London.

Finalists in the London regional category: The Cinnamon Club, Westminster // Bombay Brasserie, London // Taramind Restaurant, London South East went to 4500 Miles from Delhi, Oxford Finalists in the South East regional category: 4500 Miles from Delhi, Oxford // Miah's Garden on Gulab Restaurant, Redding // Lucky's Indian Restaurant & Tapas Bar, Newbury South West went to The Eastern Eye, Bath.

Finalists in the South West regional category: The Eastern Eye, Bath // Brunel Raj, Bristol // Jamuna Restaurant, Bath Yasmin Mahmood, Event Organiser with Oceanic Consulting said: “The 2011 hungryhouse.co.uk English Curry Awards followed in the footsteps of the Scottish version and proved to be a fantastic success.

"As well as paying tribute to England’s curry community the event raised funds for our charity partner the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. We are confident this will be the first of many successful English Curry Awards and we cannot wait to see what next year brings.”

Performances on the evening included: Abbas Hasan, an artist who is proving to be a breath of fresh air within the Asian music industry; Romy Shay, known as ‘Mr Bolllywood’, brought a pop vibe to his sound and used his expressive vocal stylings to bring a new flavour to classic Asian music; and Burgeoning songstress Kiran Dee also performed, combining elements of bhangra, Bollywood and RnB to create a melting pot of modern sounds.