Hotel Lunch For Biba Awards   14th Annual BIBA's   June 26th saw the holding of the 14th Best in Britain Awards sponsored by Carlsberg for the ethnic restaurant, food & drink industry run by Menu Magazine. The event held at the luxurious Grange City Hotel in London in association with Celebrasian, welcomed the great and the good of the industry in the annual scramble for recognition for another year's hard work and achievement. Blue Elephant in Fulham took the Oriental title in the face of a strong challenge from four other top Thai and Chinese restaurants and Lebanese restaurant Isis was the surprise choice in the Mood Food category. Passione in London took the Italian title whilst Michelin starred Tamarind was the winner of the 'Best in South' title in the Indian category. The same group enjoyed double success carrying off the Newcomer of the Year title with Imli. Scotland once again showed very well in the awards coming as little surprise in view of the fact that Glasgow is the present holder of Curry Capital of Britain. One of the top awards - BIBA Industry Personality of the Year - went to one of Scotland's favourite adopted sons when Dr Wali Tasar Uddin MBE JP from Edinburgh stepped up to accept the trophy for his tremendous achievements in British/Bangladeshi relationships, charity and, of course, commerce with his Britannia Spice restaurant. On receiving the award Dr Uddin said, "I'm delighted to receive this recognition for my role in the restaurant industry and to see Britannia Spice named Best in Scotland. Over the past six years the team at Britannia Spice has aspired to be innovative with our multinational cuisine. And we are proud of the standards we have set, while playing a key role in the Scottish community. We are now looking to the future with creative new ideas which reflect the multi-cultural community we thrive in. BEST IN BRITAIN AWARDS(BIBA 2006) sponsored by Carlsberg BIBA Italian Restaurant of the Year - Winner Passione W1 Shortlisted : Marco Polo on the River SW18 ; Giardinetto W1 ; Locanda Locatelli W1 ; Daphne's SW3 BIBA Oriental Restaurant of the Year - Winner Blue Elephant SW6 (Shortlisted) : Saran Rom SW6 ; Mango Tree SW1 ; Crazy Bear W1 ; Hakkasan W1 BIBA Mood Food Restaurant of the Year - Winner Isis W1 (Shortlisted) : Kazan SW1 ; Mestizo NW1 ; Gaucho Grill W1 ; Cottons Islington ; Asian Sector : BIBA Top 30 Spice Route (Windsor) - Jaipur (Milton Keynes) - Indian Ocean (Ashton U Lyne) - Café Spice Namaste (E1) - Amaya (SW1) - Cinnamon Club (SW1) ) - Quilon (SW1) - Haandi (SW3) - Rasoi Vineet Bhatia (SW3) - Painted Heron (SW3) - Bombay Brasserie (SW7) - Chutney Mary (SW10 -- Benares (W1) ) - Gaylord (W1) - La Porte des Indes (W1) - Tamarind (W1) - Veeraswamy (W1) Bombay Palace (W2) - Indian Zing (W6) ) - Brilliant (Southall) - Madhus (Southall) ) - Britannia Spice (Edinburgh) ) - Café India (Glasgow) ) - Thornbury Hall Rasoi (Kingsley Holt) - Last Days of the Raj (Gateshead) - Lasan (Birmingham) - Rajdoot (Birmingham) - Itihaas (Birmingham) - Mango Tree (Stonnall) - Aagrah (Shipley) Top 100 Saffron Plaza (Steppingley) - Spice Oven (Caversham) - - Dilli (Altrincham) - Kanchans (Gants Hill) - Vojan (Ongar) - Kuti's (Southampton) - Tamasha (Bromley) - - River Spice (E1) - Coconut Lagoon (EC1) - Mehek (EC2) - Kasturi (EC3) - Mint Leaf (SW1) - Vama the Indian Room (SW10) - Tabaq (SW12) - Sarkhel's (SW18) - Café Lazeez (W1) - Chor Bizarre (W1) - Deya (W1- Red Fort (W1) - Yatra (W1) - - Mela (WC2 - Memsaab (Nottingham) - Aziz (Oxford0- Far Pavilions (Edinburgh) - Suruchi (Edinburgh)- Dhabba (Glasgow) - Kama Sutra (Glasgow) - Panjea (Glasgow) - Shish Mahal (Glasgow) - Le Raj (Epsom) - Planet Spice (Addington) - Joy (Surbiton) - Vujon (Newcastle) - Café Naz (Cardiff) - Juboraj Lakeside (Cardiff) - Spice Quarter (Cardiff) - Bengal Dynasty (Shotton) - Coconut Lagoon (Kenilworth) - Blue Mango (Birmingham) - Peppers (Birmingham) - Turmeric Gold (Coventry) - Rupali (Coventry) - Rajnagar (Solihull) - Aakash (Cleckheaton) - The Verandah, Edinburgh - Aagrah (Leeds) - Akbar (Leeds) - Kiplings (Bradford) - Kebabeesh (Bradford) - Rajpoot (Bath) - Spice Lounge (Milton Keynes) - Rajdoot (Manchester) - India EC1 (EC1) - Shajan (Clayton le Dale) - 4500 miles from Delhi (Nottingham) - Café Lazeez (SW7) - Hara the Circle Bar (SE1) - Cinnamon Tree (Cardiff)- Eriki (NW3) - Ashigee (Chadderton) - Nawaab (Bradford) - Yatra Lounge (Manchester) - Indian Empire (Crick) - Dil S'e (Dundee) - Simla (Hinckley) BIBA Best in Scotland Winner : Britannia Spice, Edinburgh (Shortlisted) : Dil Se Dundee ; Café India, Glasgow ; Ashoka at the Mill, Glasgow ; Far Pavilions, BIBA Best in Wales & West Winner : Spice Quarter, Cardiff (Shortlisted) : Café Naz, Cardiff ; Juboraj Lakeside, Cardiff ; Bengal Dynasty, Shotton ; Indian Empire, Caldicot BIBA Best in North Winner : Aagrah, Shipley (Shortlisted) : Vujon Newcastle ; Mumtaz, Bradford ; Dilli, Manchester ; Aagrah, Leeds ; Last Days of the Raj Gateshead BIBA Best in Midlands Winner : Jaipur Milton Keynes (Shortlisted) : Itihaas Birmingham ; Mango Tree Stonnall ; Thornbury Hall Rasoi ;; Rajdoot Birmingham BIBA Best in South Winner : Tamarind (Shortlisted) : Cinnamon Club ; Vineet Bhatia's Rasoi ; Café Spice Namaste ; La Porte des Indes BIBA Front of House Personality Winner : Raj Bajwe Café India, Glasgow (Shotlisted) : Mohammed Rafiq Kiplings ; Mohammed Ashraf Nawaab Huddersfield ; Mr Khan Rajnagar ; Naim Munshi Sultan Lancaster BIBA Group of the Year Winner : Coconut Lagoon Group (Shortlisted) : Empire Group (Cardiff) - Tiger Garden- House of Spice - Chutney Joe - Mela . BIBA Industry Personality of the Year Winner : Dr Wali Tasar Uddin MBE, JP, Edinburgh (Shortlisted) : Sir Gulam Noon ; Tommy Miah ; Mridula Baljekar ; Cyrus Todiwala; BIBA Restaurant Personality of the Year Winner : Enam Ali Le Raj Epsom (Shortlisted) : Raj Bajwe Café India ; Anfor Farooque Spice Lounge ; Mohammed Sabir Aagrah ; Aziz Ur Rahman Aziz BIBA Newcomer of the Year Winner : Imli (W1) (Shortlisted) : The Pearl (Manchester) - Ma Goa (SW6) - Moti Mahal (WC2) - Rara (Kew) - Markez Masti Shisha (Bradford) BIBA Website of the Year Winner : Spice Oven, Reading (Shortlisted) : Dilli, Altrincham ; Spice Quarter, Cardiff ; Itihaas, Birmingham ; Markez Shisha, Bradford Raj London NW10         top