The shortlist has been announced for the Asian Restaurant Awards, which this year will take place in Manchester. 

The shortlist which can be viewed at acfederation.org includes a range of restaurants and takeaways including Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese cuisine.

Restaurants were being inspected by a panel of judges led by Pat Chapman, editor of the Cobra Good Curry Guide. 

There will also be accolades for the best restaurant suppliers, which will be determined by the votes of restaurateurs, chefs and caterers.

Although the awards are national, organisers say a north of England location was chosen to make the event more accessible to venues outside London and the south east.  

The fill list of awards categories includes, Technology Company of the Year; Best Value Asian Eatery; Best Buffet Restaurant; Best Outside Caterer; Gourmet Asian Restaurant of the Year; Best Takeaway; Best Asian Street Food (eat in or takeaway); Best Asian Fusion Food; Asian Restaurateur of the Year; Asian Chef of the Year; and Man or Women of the Year.

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There will also be a number of regional awards, covering the whole country, including Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, for the best local venues.

The Asian Restaurant Awards are organised by the Asian Catering Federation, which represents the nation’s 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants.

The Manchester event marks the beginning of a busy year for the Federation.  

On 13th March, the ACF will host a special dinner at the House of Lords to celebrate the achievements of the country’s top 20 Asian & Oriental Chefs and to launch the 8th Asian Curry Awards.  

On 26th March, in Edinburgh, the ACF will hold another of its popular Road Shows, in association with Just Eat, for restaurateurs. Further dates being planned for Belfast for in May and Cardiff in June. I

In April ACF Chairman, Yawar Khan, will visit the European Parliament in Brussels, to launch Asian Hospitality Federation of Europe (AHFE) a joint initiative between the ACF and the European Small Business Alliance (ESBA).

The ACF will be exhibiting a Takeaway Expo 2018 at Excel on the 25th and 26th September.  

“The sector employs over 100,00 people and contributes more than £4.2 billion to the UK economy, said Yawar Khan, adding, “These awards recognise the skills or effort of the industry’s best players.” 

The Asian Restaurant Awards take place in Manchester on Monday 5 March at  the Manchester Hilton Deansgate Hotel.