The Golden Chopstick Awards -

If you love East & South East Asian cuisine, and who doesn’t, The Golden Chopsticks Awards 2022 are your shortlist for finding excellence around the country.

Hosted by Gok Wan MBE, the awards, co-founded by friends Lucy Mitchell, Sarah Lewis and Gok in 2018, has become one of the largest and most prestigious celebrations of East and South East Asian food in the world.

The judging panel included Head Judge Ken Hom CBE, Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer, School of Wok’s Jeremy Pang, Eric Yu founder of The Breakfast Group, Sonny Leong CBE, Katy Tse Blair MBE, previous Masterchef winner Ping Coombes, delicious. Magazine editor Karen Barnes and author Fuchsia Dunlop.

Also attending were some of the biggest influencers in East and South East Asian food, food writers and prominent community leaders.

Many of the chosen restaurants were voted for by members of the public over a six-week period, with over 33,000 votes registered. Separate industry prizes were awarded by a judging panel which includes influential figures from the industry.

The 19 award categories mark the excellence of both the restaurant sector and the contribution made by suppliers, food writers and individuals to the industry’s growth.

The range of winners was refreshingly diverse with the first award of the night being The Ken Hom Lifetime Achievement Award, won by Holland Kwok, Good Earth Group and collected on his behalf by his son Andy Kwok from Ken himself and Gok Wan MBE. The Good Earth Group, with 8 sites, were previous winners of The Golden Chopsticks Awards Classic Restaurant Award in 2021.

The finalists featured a good spread of venues nationwide, with winners from Liverpool, Birmingham and Cumbria as well as Glasgow, Belfast and Saundersfoot.

The coveted Fine Dining category was picked up by Hakkasan. In 2001, the Michelin-starred, modern Chinese restaurant brand was born in London. Today, Hakkasan has 10 locations worldwide throughout Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia with other additional global locations opening soon.

Previous winners from 2021, when they picked up best newcomer, Woo Tan Scran from Liverpool, were delighted to pick up the award for Best Vegan / Vegetarian dish.

Mizu Pan Asian, a restaurant in Keswick, beat off stiff competition to win Best in England. This was particularly heart warming after the restaurant picked up Best Newcomer in 2019, so to see them leap to collect the Best in England Award after only 3 years was a huge achievement.

As Dim Sum continues to take the UK by storm, it was great to see a hugely popular family run restaurant from Birmingham’s Chinatown district, Chung Ying, pick up the new Best Dumpling category.

New awards featured Best Golden Cocktail picked up by the exotic Shanghai themed cocktail bar Opium Chinatown and Best Dining Experience collected by the opulent Chinese Restaurant & Experiential Dining venue, Park Chinois in Mayfair.

Another Chinatown London winner was announced when Cuppacha Bubble Tea with venues in London, Cricklewood and Sheffield scooped the Best Sweet Treat Award.

Best Fusion Restaurant went to the newly opened JM Oriental, which offers a truly upmarket West End experience to those North Londoners lucky enough to live near by.

Regional awards were given to Lokky’s for Best in Wales, Oliishi in East Kilbride for Best In Scotland and The Welcome for Best in Northern Ireland. Another win for Wales was for the highly contested Best Delivery Experience which was won by Golden Dragon GD Box in Cardiff, Wales.

And the influencer award was given to the infamous Uncle Roger, Nigel Ng, renowned for his humorous take on Chinese cooking!

The full list of winners

1. The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant in England – Mizu Pan Asian, @mizupanasian

2. The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant in Wales – Lokky’s @lokkysrestaurant

3. The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant in Scotland – Oiishi @oiishiek⁠

4. The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland – The Welcome @thewelcomebelfast

5. The Golden Chopsticks Best Newcomer – Fan Hup @fanhup_ldn

6. The Golden Chopsticks Best Delivery Experience – Golden Dragon GD Box Cardiff @goldendragongdbox

7. The Golden Chopsticks Best Fusion Restaurant – JM Oriental @jm_oriental

8. The Golden Chopsticks Best Multi site (5 or more branches) – COSMO @cosmorestaurants

9. The Golden Chopsticks Best Vegan/Vegetarian Dish Award – Woo Tan Scran, Liverpool @wootanscran

10. The Golden Chopsticks Best Sweet Treat Award – Cuppacha, Chinatown @ ilovecuppacha

11. The Golden Chopsticks Best Street Food Award – Inamo Sukoshi @inamosukoshi

12. The Golden Chopsticks Best Dumpling Award – Chung Ying, Birmingham @ChungYingGroup

13. The Golden Chopsticks Best Golden Cocktail Award – Opium @opiumchinatownlondon

14. The Golden Chopsticks Dining Experience Award – Park Chinois @parkchinois

15. The Golden Chopsticks Food Influencer Award – Uncle Roger @mrnigeing

16. The Golden Chopsticks Classic Restaurant Award – Phoenix Palace @thephoenixpalace

17. The Ken Hom Lifetime Achievement Award – Holland Kwok, Good Earth Group

18. The Golden Chopsticks Fine Dining Award – Hakkasan @hakkasanlondon

19. The Golden Chef Award – Andrew Wong – A Wong @awongsw1

The Golden Chopstick Awards

If you love East & South East Asian cuisine, and who doesn’t, The Golden Chopsticks Awards 2022 are your shortlist for finding excellence around the country.

Hhosted by Gok Wan MBE, the awards, co-founded by friends Lucy Mitchell, Sarah Lewis and Gok in 2018, has become one of the largest and most prestigious celebrations of East and South East Asian food in the world.

The judging panel included Head Judge Ken Hom CBE, Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer, School of Wok’s Jeremy Pang, Eric Yu founder of The Breakfast Group, Sonny Leong CBE, Katy Tse Blair MBE, previous Masterchef winner Ping Coombes, delicious. Magazine editor Karen Barnes and author Fuchsia Dunlop.

Also attending were some of the biggest influencers in East and South East Asian food, food writers and prominent community leaders.