Wales’ best curry houses have been revealed at the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards 2023 with three Welsh eateries taking home prestigious gongs. During the ceremony at Hilton Park Lane in London Elaichi in Carmarthenshire and Swansea won Wales’ Chef of the Year award for a second year running.

Carmarthen and Swansea were also represented in the Regional Restaurant of the Year category for Wales, which Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant Belfoi took home. Kalimirch in Barry claimed Regional Takeaway of the Year.

Nominations for the awards, which included Mango Tree in Whitchurch in the restaurant category and Shaan Tandoori Takeaway in Ammanford, are selected by leading Asian culinary establishments based on criteria such as quality of produce and value for money after being nominated first by public vote. For the latest restaurant reviews sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.

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Elaichi in Camarthen took home Regional Chef of the Year for Wales in 2022 and has done it again in 2023

Last year our reporter visited Elaichi in St Clears, around nine miles from Carmarthen to try out the restaurant making a name for itself in recent years and it didn’t disappoint. You can read all about Elaichi in this review here.

The founder of the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA), Mohammed Munim, congratulated Wales’ winners following the ceremony for their “resilience and fortitude”. “As the first and foremost award ceremony to honour the finest of the UK's Asian restaurant and takeaway industry we salute your resilience and fortitude as you continue to serve diners and customers across the UK in particularly challenging circumstances,” he said.

"The UK’s popular Asian restaurant industry, synonymous with taking operational and business challenges such as staff shortages and the Covid pandemic head-on, now faces a new set of challenges – the current cost of living crisis. The cost of supplies, ingredients, and energy have risen significantly while customers are also facing tightened household budgets.

“In this tough situation ARTA once again honours the UK’s best Asian restaurants and takeaways who continue to deliver the best in the restaurant and home dining in these tough circumstances. ARTA recognises this industry which is the result and displays the successes of multiculturalism in the UK."