The cook-off competition, that was held at Ealing University in February, presented awards to the following chefs: Daya Shankar Sharma of Grand Trunk Road in South Woodford, Shanker Pandy of Everest Inn in Blackheath and Jie Chen of Canton Restaurant in London.
Regional awards went to:
- Suna Meah: Tamarind Lounge in Sevenoaks.
- Mahabur Rahman: Royston Tandoori.
- Ram Paudal: Panas Gurkha in Blackheath.
- Mohamed Al Amin: Millennium Balti at Royal Leamington Spa.
- Mohammed Najib: Maya Restaurant in Altherstone.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to the awards’ chairman of judges Pat Chapman, editor of the Cobra Good Curry Guide.
The House of Commons dinner also became a platform for the launch of a training programme to tackle skills shortage. Yawar Khan, chairman of Asian Catering Federation (ACF)announced the joint initiative with the Tony Khan Institute.
This initiative will train young chefs in Bangladesh, helping them process their immigration visas to find jobs in UK curry restaurants, which are facing a ‘severe’ skills shortage.
Khan said: “For years we have lobbied government ministers and officials to relax the salary threshold for non-EU residents coming to the UK for work.
“The Asian Catering Federation supports the Government’s aim to make Britain a high-skilled economy.”
The Special Recognition Award was presented to Khan, hotelier and TV chef who founded the Tony Khan Institute in Bangladesh, and is president of the Bangladesh Chef’s Association.
The House of Commons event was also used to launch ACF’s Asia Restaurant Awards held in Manchester on 20 April, the Asian Restaurant Awards Scotland held in Edinburgh on 22 June and the Asian Curry Awards in London on 22 November.