Restaurant's R200 Awards winners announced

04-Dec-2018 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 12:07 GMT

Restaurant groups including Nando’s, Mowgli, Honest Burgers and Tortilla were among the winners at Restaurant magazine’s R200 Awards, held last night (3 December) at Hawker House.

James Gould-Porter’s Island Poke won the coveted Best New Scalable Concept award with Best Restaurant Operator - 20 sites and under being awarded to Dishoom. Expanding burger brand Honest Burgers took home the title of Best Restaurant Operator - over 20 sites.

Opening Of The Year went to food hall operator Market Halls for its inaugural Fulham site and three-strong modern Indian restaurant group Kricket took home Most Effective Restaurant Design for its recently launched White City restaurant.

Mowgli, the street food-inspired Indian group helmed by Nisha Katona, was named Best Value Restaurant Operator – 20 sites and under; and burrito brand Tortilla was named Best Value Restaurant Operator – over 20 sites.

Azzurri Group chief executive Steve Holmes received the Unsung Hero Award for successful piloting the group’s Italian brands Ask Italian, Zizzi and Coco Di Mama through choppy waters in the casual dining category.

Other winners included MEATliquor, whose impressive drinks list won it the title of Best Restaurant Drinks Offer, and Harcourt Inns, the recently created pub group from chef Henry Harris and business partner James McCulloch, which was named Food-led Pub Company of the Year. The latter will open its latest venue, The Crown in Chiswick in January, which will be the fourth food-led pub in the group.

The awards were announced by top comedian Russell Kane at a dinner at Hawker House and are based on votes from members of Restaurant magazine’s R200 Club. Founded in 2008, the club is an industry networking group of the top 200 multi-site restaurant operators in the UK.