At a glittering gala dinner on Monday 15^th September, the winners of the 2025 Asian Restaurant Awards International organised by the Asian Catering Federation, were announced.

This is the 9^th Asian International Restaurant Awards, and this year’s winners were not only recognised for their outstanding culinary excellence, but also for their phenomenal success and hard work.

Over one hundred restaurants and takeaways from the entire range of Asian cuisines were nominated for this year’s awards by popular vote. With the final 34 winners (a mix of restaurants, take-aways and groups), chosen by a prestigious panel of judges consisting of highly experienced catering professionals, and experts from the catering industry and commerce.

The awards dinner held at the Manchester Deansgate Hotel was hosted by broadcast journalist and BBC TV News anchor Samantha Simmonds with a guest appearance from Anisa Khan, owner of Bombay Pizza and finalist in this year’s BBC flagship programme The Apprentice.

Some of this year’s most prominent awards presented were:

• Business Person of the Year won by Tayab Khan the CEO of Westbourne Spice;

• The National Award for Asian Restaurant of the Year 2025 in England, won by Akbar’s in Manchester;

• The National Award for Asian Restaurant of the Year 2025 in Wales won by Sopna Tandoori in Caernarfon.

Other highlights included, Restaurant Group of the Year which was won by Madhu’s Group; Kings of Curry which went to the Akbar’s Group in Bradford; Royal Nawaab Pyramid in Stockport which won National Buffet Restaurant of the Year; Flaver’s in Warrington and Jadugar in Altrincham who were both named as best Regional Newcomers; and Babaji in Sunderland which scooped Best Authentic Asian Cuisine.

Chair of the Asian Catering Federation Yawar Khan said:

The food industry’s resilience, hard work, and passion are what bring it success. Each year, at the Asian Restaurant Awards International in Manchester we celebrate excellence, and today’s winners truly deserve their places as best in the country. These are the businesses that allow the Asian food industry to continue to thrive, despite the many challenges currently faced by the hospitality sector, in particular the new immigration rules in the UK, and the fees charged by online platforms. On behalf of the Asian Catering Federation I would like to sincerely congratulate them all.”