Asian Curry Awards: Finalists include restaurants and takeaways in Bosham and Bognor Regis

A record number of nominees will now be whittled down by online public vote, before visiting judges determine the eventual winners, the awards ceremony will be held at London’s Grosvenor House on November 21.

Finalists in Sussex include Cardamom Bay in Bognor Regis, Memories of India in Bosham, as well as Mahaan in Worthing and Spice Circuit in Brighton.

The event, organised by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), which represents the nation’s 30,000 restaurant and takeaways, are the only accolades acknowledging the full panoply of Asian cuisines, is widely regarded as the sector’s most prestigious.

The Asian Curry Awards cover all Asian and Oriental cuisines: Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

You can vote for you favourites via www.asiancurryawards.com

“The pandemic has been devastating for many hospitality businesses and its worker,” said ACF chairman Yawar Khan,” adding, “These awards will acknowledge the sector’s resilience, innovation in the face of such adversity.”

Andrew Kenny, Managing director of Just Eat UK, Headline sponsors of the awards said: “Just Eat has worked closely with the Asian Catering Federation for a number of years. As we begin to recover from the pandemic, I’m delighted to celebrate our partnership by helping to recognise the fantastic achievements of those in our industry who have worked tirelessly through the last 18 months and continue to do so.”

In order to survive, some Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants began offering takeaways for the first time. Others sold finish-at-home meal kits, containing pre measured ingredients and recipe instructions.

Others operated pop-up delivery kitchens, based in locked-down pubs, or run online cookery courses.