Battle is on for the 2011 ‘Curry Oscars’

Date published: 28 October 2011

One hundred Indian restaurants across the country have been shortlisted for an award in Britain’s ‘Curry Oscars’ including two from Bury, Forts of India in Whitefield and Mumbai Lounge in Radcliffe.

The winners of the 2011 British Curry Awards will be announced at the Battersea Evolution, London, on Monday 28 November.

An amazing 2,700 restaurants were entered for the awards from a record 68,000 public nominations. These have now been whittled down to a shortlist of 100 from which the nine regional winners and the Newcomer of the Year will be announced.

Awards organiser Enam Ali MBE said: “This is the seventh year of the British Curry Awards and the standards get higher every year. To reach the shortlist is a tremendous achievement.

“Interest in the competition has been greater than ever this year. It just goes to show the tremendous support there is out there for Britain’s favourite food.”

However, one leading food writer has expressed concern that a spate of copycat award schemes is threatening to undermine the success of the British Curry Awards.

Peter Grove, editor of ethnic food magazine Mood Food, said: “The majority of these new awards that have cropped up are based on nothing. It means they are, at best, completely valueless and, at worst, totally misleading to the public.

“Justified recognition by their peers is welcomed by all restaurants and a good indicator for the dining public, but awards certificates of questionable justification only serve to muddy the waters and make people wonder if any awards are worth the paper they are written on.”

Enam Ali welcomed Peter Grove’s comments. He said: “In many ways, we are the victims of our own success. Others have seen what the British Curry Awards have achieved and tried to cash in by offering awards that are simply a ruse to try to make some quick money. Some restaurateurs will always go along with it so that they can lay claim to being better than they really are. Unfortunately it is the paying public who are the ultimate victims because they may not realise that the awards certificates being displayed have little or no merit.”

He said the British Curry Awards – which Prime Minister David Cameron dubbed the ‘Curry Oscars’ when he attended the awards dinner in 2009 – remained the gold standard, and the biggest night of the year for the near 100,000 people involved in the industry.

This year’s awards dinner at the Battersea Evolution will be hosted by TV celebrity chef James Martin and attended by around 1,600 restaurateurs, VIP guests and celebrities.