The winners for Karachi’s first ever restaurant Awards are out

 


The APRA Awards - Pakistan’s first ever Customer Choice Food Award Show - finally took place on Monday, 9 December at Marriott Hotel in Karachi.
The All Pakistan Restaurant Association organised the event with the "aim to recognise and acknowledge special features of restaurants including food and service excellence, outstanding dining and delivery experiences."
We all remember when
that came out, and now a winner has been selected in each of those categories.
The ceremony had the same glitz and glam as our film and TV award shows, complete with a red carpet and Ali Safina as a charismatic host.
The Jury for the APRA Awards consisted of Chef Saadat, Chef Abdul Hadi, Sumera Hussain, Dr Sadia Safdar. Ali Sultan was initially a jury member but had dropped out for reasons not yet revealed.
 We do give props to APRA for honouring Zubaida Apa though.
We have to say, we were already puzzled at the nominations list that came out which seemed to have snubbed many deserving restaurants but some (read: most) of the wins are just as confusing to us.
Oh well, customer's choice. We do give props to APRA for honouring Zubaida Apa though.

Cuisine

Best Burger House of the Year

  • Big Thick Burgerz
  • Burger Lab
  • Burger O Clock - Winner
  • Moos N Cluck
  • Oh My Gril
  • OPTP
  • The Sauce

Best Pakistani Restaurant of the Year

  • Afridi Inn
  • Hot n Spicy
  • Kebabjees
  • Khanji
  • Lal Qila - Winner
  • Nawab Dynasty
  • Tau’s

Best Pan Asian Restaurant of the Year

  • Bonsai
  • Chop Chop Wok - Winner
  • Cocochan
  • Miyako
  • Tao

Best Chinese Restaurant

  • Bam-bou
  • China Grill
  • China Town
  • ChopSoy
  • Ginsoy - Winner
  • Kowloon

Best Coffee Place of the Year

  • Bella Vita
  • Coffee Wagera - Winner
  • Chatterbox
  • Esquires
  • Gloria Jeans
  • Mocca
  • New York Coffee

Best Chai Place of the Year

  • Cafe Clifton
  • Cafe Pyala
  • Chai Master
  • Chai Shai
  • Chai Wala
  • Chit Chat Shai
  • Chotu Chaiwala - Winner

Best Pizza House Award

  • Broadway - Winner
  • California
  • Pizza One
  • New York Pizza
  • POMO
  • Pizza Max
  • Junaidi's

Best Biryani Restaurant Award

  • AA Food Centre
  • Biryani Square
  • Haji Akhter
  • Jans Food
  • Jeddah Biryani
  • Student Biryani - Winner
  • White Biryani

Serving

Best Buffet Restaurant of the Year

  • Babujees by Port Grand
  • Chaupal
  • Lal Qila - Winner
  • Rajdhani

Best Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year

  • Bella Vita
  • ChatterBox Deli
  • Del Frio - Winner
  • POMO
  • Sizzlerz
  • Sobremesa
  • Rosati

Food Legend

Food Legend Award

  • China Town
  • Ginsoy - Winner
  • Hanifia
  • Karachi Broast
  • Pompei
  • Student Biryani
  • Waheed

Special

Best Pocket Friendly Restaurant of the Year

  • Cool Inn
  • Hot n Spicy
  • Karachi Broast
  • Kaybees - Winner
  • Pizza 363
  • Red Apple
  • Waheed

New Entrant of the Year

  • Daal Rice
  • Fettucine
  • Ginsoy Live
  • Great Wall
  • Sals
  • Wall
  • Yoshi’s - Winner

Best Innovation Dish Award

  • Cafe Praha
  • Cloud Naan
  • Lush Crush
  • Meat the Cheese - Winner
  • Plan B
  • Steak by CFU
  • Thyme

Best Restaurant for Ambiance

  • Chatterbox Cafe
  • Cocochan
  • Esquires Coffee
  • Koel
  • Rosati
  • Sultan
  • Thyme - Winner

Delivery On Time Award

  • Broadway
  • California Pizza
  • Foods Inn
  • KFC
  • McDonalds - Winner
  • Tooso
  • White Biryani

Restaurant of the Year – Karachi

  • Bonsai
  • East End
  • Kebabjees
  • Koel
  • Meat the Cheese
  • McDonalds - Winner
  • SteakbyCFU

Special APRA Awards

Best Fine Dining Restaurant of the year: Okra

Food Veteran Award: Bar.B.Q Tonight

Best Customer Experience Award: Kolachi

Best Brand Turnaround Award: KFC

Best Industry Facilitator: Pepsi

LifeTime Achievement Award: Zubaida Apa


EPICURIOUS: BINGEING ON MEAT


December  2019


Barbeque is fun with friends
 

Usually, away from the watchful eyes of the lady wife, I tend to gorge on meat on my visits to Pakistan. I don’t feel too guilty as my longer stays in Sri Lanka are largely meat-free, and replete with fish. So when
I was briefly in Islamabad, I was delighted to be invited by my old friend, Qaim Shah, to a barbeque.
Knowing how seriously Qaim takes his food — and meat in particular — I was sure I was in for a treat. And so it proved to be — the mutton skewers were juicy and succulent. An innovation for me was the presence of a couple of skewers of sheep fat on the side of the barbecue. As the fat melted, it was rubbed over the meat to keep it moist.
Expecting to focus entirely on the grilled meat, I must confess I was diverted by the karrhai gosht, which was some of the best I have ever tasted. This is probably the simplest way to cook meat. Qaim explained that all the dish contained was meat, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and salt. I made chicken karrhai the other day as there’s very little good quality meat available in Sri Lanka. It was fine, but not a patch on Qaim’s. Basically, it’s the quality of the meat that makes all the difference, and Qaim had procured his meat from a local butcher who sold top cuts.

The best way to cook karrhai gosht is to use only the best quality meat or chicken with mild spices to enhance its flavour
Driving to Lahore to attend the wedding festivities of the daughter of dear friends, I was delighted to meet pals I hadn’t seen in years. And the food was of a very high standard, not always the case at such events. But the culinary highlight of my short Lahore trip was the food I ordered from Khan Baba in Chauburji. For my money, this is the best desi restaurant in Lahore, and possibly Pakistan.














Staying with TJ, I invited a few foodie friends to sample the brain masala, gosht ka salan, naan with mince-filling and mutton pulao. Almost all desi eateries use so much chilli that it often overpowers the dish. At Khan Baba, they let the ingredients speak for themselves, using only the very best quality meat and chicken, cooked with desi ghee. The flavour is subtle, without the sweat-inducing chilli heat you can encounter in most places. I wish Khan Baba would publish a cookbook of their recipes as it is a Lahore institution that not enough people know about or appreciate.
There are certain dishes that are best cooked by specialists rather than the home cook. I would place nihari and payas in this category. Both need long, slow cooking and the right combination of spices. I have never tried to make them, but don’t want to risk an upset stomach from the large vats produced by Karachi’s Nihari Inn or Zahid’s Nihari. Both have great flavour, but to tuck into their offerings just before a flight? I don’t think so.

Lahori Karrhai


Oh yes, here’s an easy way to make a karrhai: Heat a wok with a couple of tablespoons of ghee; sautee a half kilo of meat (or chicken), throw in a similar quantity of quartered tomatoes; add five or six sliced green chillies, salt and some julienned ginger. Peel off the skin of the tomatoes as they soften, and stir the contents of the wok vigorously. Lower the heat once things are cooking nicely until the meat is done, and the sauce is reduced to barely a coating. It can’t get much simpler than this.
Surmai or seer is the most popular (and most expensive) fish available in Sri Lanka. Also known as King Fish, it can grow up to 45 kg. I have bought 15-kg seer often as the local fishing villagers bring their catch to us for inspection. Nandi, our star housekeeper and chef, has a wonderful way with fish and I look forward to a change from all the meat I have eaten recently.
Published in Dawn, EOS, December 1st, 2019
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