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Curry Awards facts for kids

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The Curry Awards are special prizes given to curry restaurants in the United Kingdom. These awards celebrate restaurants that are truly excellent in every way. They are given out by The Curry Club and its famous book, The Good Curry Guide.

The first Good Curry Guide Awards ceremony happened in May 1991. It was started by Pat Chapman. This was the very first awards event for any type of restaurant!

How the Awards Started

Pat Chapman published his first Good Curry Guide in 1984. It listed about 600 Indian restaurants. At that time, there were about 4,000 Indian restaurants in the UK. The first guide did not say which ones were the "best."

The next guide, in 1987, included reviews from different writers. Still, no restaurant was rated higher than another. Pat Chapman believed that all the restaurants in his guide were already "Good Curry Guide Restaurants." Many newspapers and magazines, like The Evening Standard and The Daily Telegraph, wrote about the guide. But journalists kept asking Pat Chapman to name the very best restaurants.

Chapman then asked his writers to pick the top 30 restaurants. This list later grew to the top 100 in 1995. They also chose the best restaurants in different regions and the best in the whole UK. These results were put into the 1991 guide. To celebrate, Chapman decided to hold an awards ceremony for the winners.

The First Award Ceremonies

In 1991, there were not many awards events like this. Chapman based his idea on the Academy Awards. Winners received a certificate in front of other restaurant owners and the media. A special lunch followed to make the event more social.

The first ceremony had eight winners. The Chutney Mary Indian restaurant in London, SW10 was named "Best in UK." The event was held there. People and the media loved the idea!

Because of this huge success, the "Top 30" list grew to "Top 100" for the next guide. No less than 18 "Best in Category" awards were given out. A bigger place was needed for the ceremony. Chapman chose the Park Lane Hotel in London, which could seat 330 people. This was the first time Madhu's, a catering company, cooked for an event other than Asian weddings. Chapman planned the whole event. About 80 of the 300 guests were from the media.

The Awards Today

Today, between 18 and 20 awards are given out. About 800 people attend the event. This includes restaurant staff, their guests, sponsors, and the media.

The lunch is a very important part of the event. Cooking for other people in the food business is always tricky. For Chapman's Awards, it's even harder! The restaurant owners come from all over the subcontinent (like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh). So, the caterer has to please 800 international peers (people who do the same job). Not many caterers would try this!

The event is widely reported in the UK and the subcontinent. It is also televised by Sony Entertainment Television Asia. The show is broadcast and repeated in many countries. These include Australia, Canada, Europe, Pakistan, India, Mauritius, the Middle East, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Millions of people watch it.

How Hard Is It to Win?

There are about 9,000 Indian restaurants in Britain. Each one is carefully checked. Only about seventy restaurants make it onto the shortlist. Then, only four restaurants are chosen for each of the eighteen award categories.

Out of these, only eighteen restaurants actually win an award. This means only one out of every 500 restaurants wins! That's a very small number, just 0.2% of all the restaurants. This shows how special it is to win a Curry Award.

Award Ceremony Dates

The Good Curry Guide Awards ceremony happens each time a new Good Curry Guide is published.

Year Venue Caterer Notes
1991 Chutney Mary Chutney Mary —
1995 Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly Madhu's Southall televised by BBC Network East
1998 Nehru Centre, W1 Clay Oven, Wembley —
1999 Café Royal, Regent St, W1 Madhu's Southall —
2001 Hilton Park Lane, W1 Madhu's Southall —
2004 Hilton Park Lane, W1 Madhu's Southall televised by Sony TV Asia
2007 Hilton Park Lane, W1 Madhu's Southall televised by Sony TV Asia
2010 Ithihaas Ithihaas Birmingham B1 —
2013 Painted Heron London, SW10

Past Winners of "Best in the UK"

The top award is called Best in the UK. Here are some past winners:

  • 1991/4 ~ Chutney Mary, SW10
  • 1995/7 ~ Bombay Brasserie, SW7
  • 1998/9 ~ La Porte des Indes, W1
  • 1999/2001 ~ Chutney Mary, SW10
  • 2002/3 ~ Quilon Restaurant, SW1
  • 2004/6 ~ Madhu's, Southall
  • 2007/8 ~ Ithiaas, Birmingham
  • 2009/10 ~ Masala World Group, London: Amaya, Chutney Mary, Veerswamys, Masala Zone (8 restaurants)
  • 2013 ~ Painted Heron, SW1

Award Categories (2013)

Regional Awards

These awards go to the best restaurants in different parts of the UK. In 2012/3, Pat Chapman visited these 25 restaurants (and one group of 11 restaurants) himself to give them their awards.

*Best in the North of England 2013

  • BEST UK GROUP ~ Akbars (11 restaurants): Bradford (2), Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds (2), Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Rotherham & York.
  • BEST IN YORKSHIRE ~ Ashoka Sheffield
  • BEST IN MERSEYSIDE ~ Gulshan Liverpool
  • BEST IN NORTH EAST ~ Valley 397 Newcastle

*Best in the Midlands, England 2013

  • BEST IN MIDLANDS ~ Anoki Burton, Derby, Nottingham
  • BEST IN EAST MIDLANDS ~ Curry Fever Leicester Leics
  • BEST IN WEST MIDLANDS ~ Maharaja Birmingham West Midlands
  • BEST IN CENTRAL ENGLAND ~ Calcutta Brasserie Milton Keynes Bucks

*Best in South East England 2013

  • BEST IN the SOUTH EAST ~ The Ambrette Margate Kent & Rye Sussex
  • BEST ON SOUTH COAST ~ Bombay Bay, Southsea Hants
  • BEST IN OUTER LONDON, WEST ~ Brilliant Southall, Middlesex
  • BEST IN HOME COUNTIES, NORTH ~ Chez Mumtaj St Albans, Herts
  • BEST IN SURREY ~ India Dining, Warlingham, Surrey
  • BEST IN SOUTH ENGLAND ~ Massala, Cobham, Surrey
  • BEST IN HOME COUNTIES, WEST ~ Mango Lounge Windsor Berks
  • BEST IN OUTER LONDON, SOUTH ~ Sesame New Malden

*Best in South West England 2013

  • BEST IN THE WEST COUNTRY ~ Viceroy, Yeovil, Somerset
  • BEST IN THE SOUTH WEST ~ Mysterica, Bristol
  • BEST IN CORNWALL ~ Rajdoot, St Ives, Cornwall

*Best in Scotland 2013

  • BEST OVERALL in SCOTLAND ~ Verandah Edinburgh
  • BEST IN NORTH SCOTLAND ~ Balaka St Andrews Fife
  • BEST IN EAST SCOTLAND ~ Mya, Edinburgh, Lothian

*Best in Wales 2013

  • BEST IN WALES ~ Moksh Cardiff Glamorgan
  • BEST IN NORTH WALES ~ Bengal Dynasty Shotton & Llandudno

Cuisine Awards (These were not given in 2012/3)

Speciality Awards (These were not given in 2012/3)

  • Best Chef
  • Best Maître d' (restaurant manager)
  • Best Newcomer

Lifetime Achievement Award (This was not given in 2012/3)

  • Awarded in 2007 to Satish Arora, Chef Culinaire, Taj Group.

See also

DVD

  • Good Curry Guide Award Ceremony 2007
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