The Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards (ARTA) 2022 took place earlier this week during a celebrity red-carpet event in London. The largest celebration of Britain’s vibrant Asian restaurants and takeaway industry was held on Sunday 2nd October at the InterContinental Hotel at The O2-London.
Hosted by BBC journalist and broadcaster Samantha Simmonds, and Paul Martin, magician and member of the world-famous Magic Circle, the coveted awards are in recognition of the UK’s best of South Asian cuisine across a series of prestigious regional and national categories.
The best UK Asian cuisine was narrowed down from 2400 nominations for South Asian restaurants, takeaways, chefs, and personalities. ARTA rewarded excellence, craft, creativity, and great taste by bringing the UK’s most prestigious Asian restaurants and chefs together under one roof.
Regional finalists were chosen based on survey data of over 700,000 customers of digital application ChefOnline, followed by a final judgement from an esteemed panel of industry experts.
Restaurants were awarded based on three key factors: Quality of Food, Quality of Service, and Value for Money. This was 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.
Bombay Cuisine in Prestwich came away with two awards: National Takeaway of the Year 2022 and the Regional Takeaway of the Year – North-West. The Milnrow Balti in Rochdale, was crowned the Restaurant of the Year – North-West.
The grand award of National Champion of Champions was awarded to Ruby in Hertford, while My Delhi Indian Streetery in Newcastle upon Tyne won the National Chef of The Year 2022, and Tamasha in Las Palmas in Spain was crowned European Restaurant of The Year 2022.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred to Mr Muquim Ahmed, a renowned British entrepreneur who was a successful restaurateur and has spent over 40 years building a rapidly growing business empire. He is also known as the King of Brick Lane.
Salik Mohammed Munim, Founder of the ARTA Awards, said: “The ARTA Awards 2022 are a celebration and recognition of Britain’s vibrant Asian restaurants, takeaways, and chefs. Since the inception of ARTA, we have clearly seen the phenomenal quality of entrants, and the bar set by each, and every nominee has been increasing each year.
“I am truly blown away by the standards set by the competition and having been privy to exceptional quality and service extended by the nominees, I can confidently assert that Asian culinary industry in Britain is in safe hands. Every nominee and winner should be proud of their work.”
The awards also offered solidarity and morale for the industry which is currently facing headwinds including with the high cost of energy, inflation, and the impact from the pandemic.
Salik Mohammed added: “ARTA 2022 is extremely special for us, as it has returned after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The gathering was emotional and symbolic, as it brought together members of the Asian cuisine industry during an exceptionally difficult and testing time.
“The cost of energy crisis is a real threat to the sector, and many are faced with the prospect of closing doors after having served their local communities and patrons for decades. This has been a back-to-back assault on the sector, which was recently reeling and recovering from the pandemic, and staffing shortages post-Brexit. It was a poignant moment for us all, to be together and extend moral support and well-wishes. I truly wish us all the very best.”
The UK’s Curry industry contributes £5 billion annually, which as of 2015 has accounted for a fifth of the restaurants in the UK dating back to the 1800’s. Today there are more Indian restaurants in Greater London than in Delhi and Mumbai combined.
