The finest restaurants in Abu Dhabi have been revealed – with Bord Eau walking away with our Best Restaurant award for a second year running.
Hundreds of restaurateurs, chefs and foodies turned out to hear which eateries would come out king at the Time Out Abu Dhabi Restaurant Awards 2013, widely recognised as the most important event on the capital’s culinary calendar.
As well as picking up the top prize, The Shangri-La Hotel’s Bord Eau also collected its second gong for Best Contemporary European in as many years.
‘I would say it’s our passion for what we do,’ said chef de cuisine Cyril Calmet, when asked the secret of the restaurant’s success.
The seventh edition of our annual awards ceremony was hosted at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche on Tuesday October 8, attracting hundreds of competing restaurateurs sporting slyly crossed fingers.
Renowned for being one of the most hotly contested awards, this year’s Best Newcomer went to Brasserie Angelique, in Jumeirah at Etihad Towers.
‘It means recognition,’ said manager Nicolas Coupain simply, holding his trophy.
Earlier in the evening there were chants of ‘once every year’ from the team behind Hakkasan, as they walked off with the award for Best Chinese for the third time in as many years.
‘Three years running – it’s been an outstanding achievement,’ said general manager Paulo Bastos. ‘We need to continue to sustain our standards and push forward, and keep checking the competition if we want to be the best.’
The Best Indian went to Yas Viceroy’s Angar for the first time – something that didn’t surprise restaurant manager Vimal Venugopal. ‘We were expecting it,’ he said. ‘We have been in the market four years and this year we really concentrated on our service.’
Despite being among the least lively tables at the beginning of the ceremony, by the close of the evening staff at the Hilton Abu Dhabi were loudly celebrating a trio of wins, with Toki picking up Best Japanese, Bocca awarded Best Italian and Vasco’s winning Best International.
‘This is fantastic – it wasn’t expected,’ said the hotel’s executive chef Saco Musch. ‘These awards are very competitive, and with the amount of competition out there we feel so proud.
‘Everybody is reading Time Out – every Wednesday and Thursday you see people checking out the new restaurant reviews – with that awareness, to get three trophies is fantastic.’
It was a particularly emotional evening for Sinju Varghese. After being crowned as Time Out’s Young Chef of the Year in June, the Emirates Palace chef de cuisine held another trophy high for his work at Sayad, winner of Best Seafood restaurant.
‘Winning the Young Chef of the Year award really changed the way I work and the exposure I get,’ he said. ‘I was confident to win the Best Seafood restaurant award.’
Since its founding year in 2007 the Time Out Abu Dhabi Restaurant Awards have been recognised as the leading benchmark for the industry, and the best-known accolade for distinguishing diners.
