Hale, Urmston and Altrincham as celebrate wins for Greater Manchester
Another week, another awards ceremony and last week was the turn of the Asian Restaurant Awards 2022. The annual awards ceremony, which is organised by the Asian Catering Federation, celebrates the sector’s finest restaurants covering the full spectrum of Asian cuisine.
Adapt and embrace change, or risk becoming just become another statistic
This year’s ceremony took place at the Hilton Manchester Piccadilly in front of an audience of over 500 of the country’s leading Asian restaurant owners, chefs and local dignitaries. BBC newsreader Samantha Simonds hosted the gala dinner. Greater Manchester, as per, put in a strong showing at the awards with multiple restaurants picking up gongs across a variety of categories.
Greater Manchester winners across the board
Manchester winners were aplenty at this year’s edition of the awards, with Sigiriya, Vermilion and Spice Mafia all celebrating wins. Sigiriya won this year’s Best Fine Dining Restaurant award whilst Vermilion Cinnabar won the Best Asian Fusion. Spice Mafia in Urmston and Balchao in Hale Barns were joint winners of the Best Newcomer award.
Rasassi in Altrincham meanwhile was the joint winner of the Casual Dining Award with Blackburn’s Kebabish Original. Sushi Mami won Best Japanese restaurant with Chef Xiang Yang Liu awarded Oriental Chef Of The Year.
In recognition of the award, Sigiriya posted to Instagram:
“We only went and won! Thank you for all of the support from our last post! We are now officially the Best Fine Dining Restaurant as awarded by The Asian Restaurant Awards. Thank you so much to the awards. And to each and every one of you that dines with us. We couldn’t be Sigiriya without you!”
Spice Mafia also posted to Instagram to celebrate its win:
“THANK YOU our lovely guests, people of Urmston, friends, and family. We are so overwhelmed with the happiness and love you have expressed in our moment of joy. We promise we will keep serving you the BEST of Authentic Indian food inspired by streets of India each time, every time of your visit.”
Restaurateurs told to adapt and embrace change
The Asian Restaurant Awards are the UK’s only restaurant awards open to all Asian cuisines including Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
The awards are organised by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF) which represents some 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants across the UK. According to the federation, the sector employs over 100,000 people and contributes more than £5 billion to the UK economy.
Speaking at the awards, Yawar Khan, Chairman of the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), spoke of the industry’s need to:
“Adapt and embrace change, or risk becoming just become another statistic, amid widespread restaurant closures, against ever-rising rising costs, with no Government plan to help alleviate the pain being felt through the hospitality sector."
Congratulations to all the winners.
Read next: 'I'll never make a ragu this good' - Sugo Pasta Kitchen, Sale, reviewed
Read again: Midnight eats: The best restaurants open late in Manchester
Don't miss out
Get the latest food & drink news and exclusive offers by email.
