Inverness restaurant Cinnamon named top Highland place for curry
Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant Cinnamon has been named top place in the Highlands for an Asian dinner.
The city centre diner picked up the award in the sixth annual Asian Restaurant Awards (Scotland) at a ceremony at the Sheraton Grand in Edinburgh.
The awards programme recognises Scotland’s best loved Asian dining establishments with both national and regional winners being named from top restaurants located across the Highlands, North East and Central Belt.
Taking the top honour of the evening was Edinburgh’s Prahna Indian Grill, which was named as Scotland’s Best Asian Restaurant of the Year. Cilantro, another establishment based in the capital, was awarded Newcomer of the Year.
Other national accolades included the Just Eat award for Scotland’s best Asian Takeaway/Delivery establishment which was jointly won by Edinburgh’s St John's Curry Club and the Curry Pot Indian Takeaway in Dunfermline.
Edinburgh’s Harajuku Kitchen was named as Best Japanese Restaurant while the city’s Tattu took honours as Best Chinese Restaurant.
In the regional categories, Prahna Indian Grill was also being named as the Edinburgh region winner, while Stonehaven’s Carron to Mumbai and Aberdeen’s Light of Bengal were joint winners as the top Asian restaurants in Aberdeenshire.
Handi in Glenrothes were winners in Central and Fife; Glasgow’s Charcoals was voted best Glasgow & West of Scotland establishment, and Masala Ram’s in Falkirk were named as Stirlingshire region winners.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon in Inverness was named as the Highland region’s top Asian eatery; Dalkeith’s Bombay Lounge was the Midlothian region winner; and Elgin’s Panache was voted best in Moray.
Over 60 establishments were in the running for an award at tonight’s finals with the shortlist was determined by over 10,000 votes from members of the public. The shortlisted establishments were all visited by a panel of judges from the ACF who determined the winners for seven national and nine regional award categories.
The winners will all be included in the ACF’s new ‘One Hundred Top Curry Restaurants’ guide, which is being published currently, region–by–region across the UK, at www.Top100curryRestaurants.co.uk, with a printed version being available next year.
The sixth annual Asian Restaurants Awards (Scotland) were launched at The Scottish Parliament on June 29.
Organised by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF) with Just Eat as keynote sponsor, the awards have become a pinnacle for uniting the Asian restaurant industry in achieving recognition for innovation, vision and exceptional food.
Further supporters of the Asian Restaurants Awards (Scotland) include Cobra Beer; Tyl by NatWest - Online Payment Solutions; and business immigration and HR systems specialists Work Permit Cloud.
ACF Chairman Yawar Khan said: “We warmly congratulate tonight’s winners at the sixth annual Asian Restaurant Awards (Scotland). They are acknowledged as being among the very best dining establishments across Scotland and are all great ambassadors for the Asian food sector.
“Asian restaurants contribute £5bn to the economy and employ more than 100,000 people across the UK. They are also a key feature of Scotland’s food and cultural landscape. We are delighted to celebrate their success and we will continue to support these important businesses, especially during these challenging times with the sector facing rising costs and staff shortages.”