MAKE YOUR LOCAL ORIENTAL RESTAURANT A NATIONAL WINNER
Do you think your local Chinese is the best in the country?
Well, now’s your chance to give them the accolade they deserve by nominating your favourite Oriental restaurant or takeaway for the top trophy in the prestigious Golden Chopsticks Awards.
Judging opens on February 1st, closing on March 10th.
Devised by TV host and entrepreneur Gok Wan, the event, now in its second year, awards a range of prizes celebrating the very best in Oriental cuisine for restaurants, takeaways and chefs throughout the country.
Top nominees are invited to a central London hotel, the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square on 29th April 2019 for the ceremony, hosted by Gok Wan and other famous celebrities, where the winners will be unveiled.
April 2018 saw the inaugural Golden Chopsticks Awards launch in the UK when 500 guests attended a glittering ceremony in London hosted by Gok Wan. The mission was to celebrate the enormous contribution of Oriental cuisines to the UK catering industry and champion those who work within them. Notable winners from the first awards included Andrew Wong from A Wong, The Royal China Club, Ping Pong and Chaophraya.
As the only awards to recognise Oriental cuisine in the UK, the event was extremely well received by the industry, and as head judge Ken Hom commented, [quote]“It has set the standard for food awards in this sector“.[/quote]
The judging panel includes Ken Hom, Simon Rimmer, Ching He Huang, Jeremy Pang and Gizzi Erskine.
Gok Wan, co-founder and host of the awards, said: [quote]“After last year’s huge success of our first ever Golden Chopsticks Awards, we’re going bigger and better in 2019. This year’s awards are already the talk of the Oriental food scene, and we can promise more awards, more sponsors, and more establishments taking part – all of which aims to celebrate and recognise the huge variety of oriental cuisine right on our doorsteps. Our panel of esteemed judges, including our Head judge Ken Home OBE, will be in attendance for what promises to be an evening of glitz, glamour, and of course great food and entertainment!”[/quote]
Oriental cuisine continues to be fast growing in the UK, but it’s not only market size, it’s exploding in diversity and choice. We’re seeing trends towards fusion Oriental food with growing demand for South East Asian flavours. This is illustrated by the increasing popularity of Vietnamese, Korean and Malaysian joining the well-established Chinese, Japanese and Thai food scene. This change largely reflects the investment from China into UK property and businesses and the growing population of Chinese students choosing to study and live here.
There’s also more demand from western consumers for diverse Oriental cuisine as our nation becomes better-travelled and our taste buds more adventurous.
To acknowledge the growth and ever-changing diversity in the market, we have introduced three new awards in 2019 to shine light on the Oriental representation within street food, desserts & sweet treats, as well as the best oriental range in a national supermarket. Whether it’s a well-loved local takeaway, a quick street food bite or an exquisite fine dining fusion restaurant, The Golden Chopsticks want to celebrate everything the industry has to offer.
The awards in April will be attended by TV personalities, some of the biggest influencers in Oriental food, global celebrity chefs, eminent food writers and prominent community leaders.
Headline sponsors are Just Eat, leading global marketplace for online food delivery and Lee Kum Kee, a leading supplier of authentic Chinese and Asian sauces.
The 20 award categories mark the excellence of both the restaurant sector and contribution made by suppliers, supermarkets, food writers and individuals to the industry’s growth, and include judges and public votes. Cast your vote and be in with a chance of winning £500 and a meal for two in one of the winning restaurants.
Please visit theGCAs.co.uk for further information.
