Tayyabs wins London Restaurant Award 2008
(1 September 2008)

Tayyabs, started by Mohammad Tayyab over 30 years ago, won the Best Indian Restaurant of the Year award at this year's London Restaurant Awards held on 1st September 2008. Tayyabs saw off competition from previous winners Amaya and the Painted Heron as well as The Quilon Restaurant and Rooburoo. Originally a daytime café for locals, Tayyabs finally opened an evening restaurant in an adjoining Victorian pub in historic Whitechapel, London.

Overall British chefs and restaurants dominated the winners' list of this year's London Restaurant Awards. Leading the charge, Rowley Leigh scooped the night's flagship award, the Restaurant of the Year, as well as New Restaurant of the Year for Le Café Anglais.

Rowley was joined as a double-award winner by Michael Belben, recognised as the founder of gastropub dining, who won the coveted Restaurateur of the Year, picking up another prize for his latest venture Great Queen Street, which won British Restaurant of the Year.

Michelin starred The Greenhouse also claimed two awards winning Outstanding Restaurant Service and the Award of Excellence, recognising restaurants for special occasions. Jason Atherton, head chef of Maze, received the judges' vote as Outstanding London Chef, previously awarded to the likes of Pascal Aussignac and Giorgio Locatelli, while Mark Hix won the award for Outstanding Contribution to London Restaurants.

London Restaurant Awards 2008 Winners

British Restaurant of the Year - Great Queen Street
French Restaurant of the Year - Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
Italian Restaurant of the Year - Theo Randall at the InterContinental
Iberian Restaurant of the Year - Barrafina
Oriental Restaurant of the Year - .Aaya
Indian restaurant of the Year - Tayyabs
Local Restaurant of the Year - Market
Award of Excellence- The Greenhouse
New Restaurant of the Year -Le Café Anglais
Toptable.com Best Business Lunch - The Wolseley
Outstanding London Chef - Jason Atherton
Restaurateur of the Year - Michael Belben
Outstanding Restaurant Service - The Greenhouse
Outstanding Contribution to London Restaurants - Mark Hix
London Restaurant of the Year- Le Café Anglais
Best Restaurant Chain - Carluccios
Evening Standard 60 under £60 award - Sam's Bar and Brasserie
Top 10 Restaurants Outside London (alphabetical order):

Anthony's
Le Champignon Sauvage
L'Enclume
The Fat Duck
The Kitchin
Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons
Northcote
Purnell's
Restaurant Sat Bains
The Waterside Inn

Fay Maschler, chair of the judging panel, commented: "The winners this year - and the shortlisted restaurants - reflect a new dignity, maturity and appropriateness in what is happening in London restaurants. Eating out has become part of the fabric of life and as such needn't, and shouldn't, always be regarded as a special occasion. The restaurant that can deliver delight at a modest level is just as much a place to cherish as a temple of haute cuisine. The fact that so many of our winning chefs and restaurateurs are British born and bred gives a lot of hope for the future."

This year's judging panel featured some of the UK's most respected and well-known critics:

Charles Campion (Evening Standard)
Fay Maschler (Evening Standard)
Giles Coren (The Times)
Jay Rayner (The Observer)
Matthew Norman (The Guardian)
Terry Durack (The Independent on Sunday)
Tracey Macleod (The Independent)

Tayyabs, 83 - 89 Fieldgate Street, London E1. Telephone: 020 7247 9543, info@tayyabs.co.uk, www.tayyabs.co.uk

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