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 the nominations list 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 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