Two Edinburgh restaurants Tuk Tuk and Ignite make the 'Curry Oscars' UK Asian Curry Awards 2024 finalists list

The Asian Curry Awards 2024 finalists were chosen from a shortlist of over 200 restaurants and takeaways, and voted for by the spice-loving public. Judges from the Asian Catering Federation (ACF) will now meet to discuss the list of finalists and determine this year’s overall winners.

The winners will be announced at a glittering gala dinner and presentation on Sunday, November 17, at Grosvenor House in London, hosted by BBC news anchor Samantha Simmonds.

Making the final 115 restaurants and heading to the awards ceremony later this month, are Edinburgh restaurants Tuk Tuk Indian Street Food at Leven Street in Tollcross, and Ignite Bengali & Indian restaurant at Morrison Street.

Tuk Tuk Indian Street Food in Tollcross, Edinburgh. Tuk Tuk also has another restaurant at Drummond Street in the Southside area of the city.

Speaking about making the finalists’ list, Tuk Tuk manger Kranthi Agru told the Evening News: “It’s good for business. Hopefully we will win. I think this shows we are doing a good job, otherwise we wouldn’t be in the final.

“I’m not sure if I will make the ceremony, the owner will probably go down to London, we are just waiting on the call for more details. But it is great to be a finalist.”

While, Md Imran at Ignite said: “We feel great, absolutely great. A lot of hard work has paid off with great feedback, it’s just brilliant to be recognised.

“We went down to the ceremony last year, hopefully we win this time. Either way we will keep providing a high quality service here at Ignite.

“We will continue to work hard for our customers, we are not going to stop, we are always trying to be better and better.”

Stock photo of Bangladeshi-Indian restaurant Ignite at Morrison Street, Edinburgh.

The Asian Curry Awards cover the complete range of Asian and Oriental cuisines: Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

Most of the finalists are from the UK and Ireland, although there are also entries from abroad including from Sweden, Turkey, Gibraltar and The Canary Islands.

In addition to the awards given for best restaurant in each region of the UK, awards are also presented for Takeaway of the Year, Event Caterer of the Year, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, Restaurant Group of the Year, Best International Restaurant, Best Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Street Food of the Year, and, for the much coveted Asian Chef of the Year, as well as Lifetime Achievement.

It is unclear at this stage which award the two Edinburgh restaurants will be vying for on November 17 in London.

Asian Curry Awards

ACF chairman Yawar Khansaid said: “We’re delighted by the number of people who have taken the time to vote for their favourite restaurant this year.

“The standard of finalists is exceptional and we also have some excellent newcomers on the list which is great news for the industry as it continues to flourish in today’s challenging economic climate.”

The 14th Asian Curry Awards and Asian Catering Federation Gala Dinner is sponsored by Cobra Beer, Kingfisher Beer and Work Permit Cloud Ltd. It is organised by the Asian Catering Federation which represents the nation’s 35,000 caterers in the UK and together generate over £60 billion for the UK economy.