Welsh Curry House of the Year 2008
27 Nov 2007 - 12 Mar 2008The Welsh Curry House of the Year returned in late 2007, when the competition’s organisers - The Festivals Company Limited - began the search once again for the nation’s favourite Indian Restaurant.
Over 260 Indian restaurants in Wales were eligible to compete for the prize, now in its second year, and the competition received a staggering response for the general public with over 6000 registered for restaurants throughout Wales.
When the public vote closed in January 2008, the judging process was handed over to the Regional Independent judges who visited the Top 5 restaurants in each of the three regions of North, Mid & West and South Wales. The judges sampled the food, experienced the atmosphere and met the people involved before deciding on the following three regional winners:
North Wales: Asha Balti House, Llanrwst
Mid and West Wales: Sheesh Mahal, Llanelli
South Wales: Nawab Tandoori Restaurant, Swansea
The three regional finalists then battled it out to become Welsh Curry House of the Year 2008 by cooking for the National Independent Jury. They were (picutred, left): Shaek Ali (owner of the Sopna Indian Restaurant at Pontrug near Caernarfon - the winner of the Welsh Curry House of the Year 2007), Peter Stead (Swansea based writer, broadcaster and cultural historian) and Uma Sims (founder of the award winning Cardamom Queen). The three finalists were judged on their presentation skills, the taste of their dish, the use of Welsh produce and their ability to cope under pressure.
The winner of the 2008 competition was announced during an awards ceremony in Y Sendd in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday, March 12th. In front of an invited audience representing the Indian Restaurants in Wales together with the competition judges and sponsors, the Presiding Officer and curry enthusiast Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas announced The Sheesh Mahal as the winner of the competition.
"The tradition of Indian Restaurants here in Wales is now long established and is part of the nations menu. The fact that we have 260 Indian restaurants in Wales is testament to the popularity of Indian food," said Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas.
"We have had a fantastic response to this year’s competition with more than 6000 votes. Plans are already in development for next year’s competition which will once again celebrate the love affair between Wales and Indian food", said Berwyn Rowlands from the Festivals Company, organiser of the competition.
The award ceremony will feature as part of Some Like it Hot, which has followed the competition from the beginning, and will be screened on ITV Wales, every Thursday for three weeks at 10.35pm starting March 20th 2008.
The competition is sponsored by Meat Promotion Wales and Kingfisher.
www.welshcurryhouse.co.uk
