A message from our Co-Founder

"The mission of the Golden Chopsticks Awards is to celebrate the enormous contribution of East and South East Asian cuisine to the UK catering industry and champion those who work within it. 

Chinese culture and cuisine have been an integral part of the UK dining scene for the past 60 years with Chinese food voted one of the nation's favourites year on year. Nowadays joining the well-established Japanese and Thai food scene we see Korean, Malaysian and Vietnamese dishes growing in popularity together with specialist regional Chinese offerings. 

In 2018 we launched the very first Golden Chopsticks Awards in the UK. As the only awards to recognise East and South East Asian cuisine, the event was extremely well received by the industry, and as our head judge Ken Hom CBE said, “It has set the standard for food awards in this sector". This feedback reinforced our belief that an event of this quality, celebrating the talent and success of the East and South East Asian food industry, was long overdue.

The Golden Chopsticks Awards 2022 aimed to build on the success of the first few years and it didn't dissapoint! We created an even bigger and better celebration of East and South East Asian food excellence in the UK, and grew the number of establishments taking part. Whether it’s a well-loved local Chinese takeaway, or an exquisite fine dining fusion restaurant, we want to celebrate everything the industry has to offer.”

Gok Wan MBE

Co-Founder of The Golden Chopsticks Awards

 

 

How wonderful is it to finally to have an iconic award that recognizes the achievement of Asian food culture from not just Chinese but Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Korean, Thai........all which has become part of the DNA of UK food culture! It is the best platform for encouraging up and coming chefs and restaurants, but also celebrating the achievements of those who are already successful in the ever growing Asian food culture!

Ken Hom CBE - Chef, Author, TV Presenter

As the leader in authentic Chinese sauces, Lee Kum Kee is proud to collaborate with The Golden Chopsticks Awards, which share the same vision and passion in raising awareness and championing East and South East Asian cuisine. It is a perfect platform to discover new talents and celebrate the success of East and South East Asian cuisine excellence in the UK.

Maria Chong, Lee Kum Kee

We're delighted to be sponsors of The Golden Chopsticks Awards - the first of its kind to celebrate and recognise the great work of Chinese restaurants across the UK. These small, often family run businesses make a huge contribution to the economy and also their local community. It's a fantastic initiative and with thousands of Chinese restaurants on the Just Eat platform, we are very proud to be involved.

Andrew Kenny, Managing Director UK, Just Eat

The food industry has been crying out for a celebration of East and South East Asian cuisine in the UK. When I was a kid Chinese was considered very exotic! Today Japanese and Thai are definitely up there and Korean, Vietnamese and Malaysian are well on the way. I’m so excited to be a co-founder of The Golden Chopsticks Awards, we have an amazing panel of judges and incredible sponsors.

Gok Wan MBE