Metro Announces Top 50 Asian Restaurants

Press Release

22 August 2008

METRO ANNOUNCES TOP 50 ASIAN RESTAURANTS

Ponsonby’s Soto has been named the Supreme Winner in the Metro Asian Restaurant Awards 2008.

Metro magazine has launched the awards in association with Asia Downunder in recognition of Aucklanders’ growing love affair with Asian cuisine.

Metro editor Bevan Rapson says the proliferation of Asian restaurants across the city means Aucklanders have a huge choice of places to eat out compared with even just a few years ago. “With so many restaurants for people to choose from, we saw the need for a reliable, thoroughly researched guide covering everything from formal places to inexpensive suburban secrets and food halls.”

Competition was very tough. A team of 10 judges, co-ordinated by Metro’s Epicure Editor Simon Wilson, visited close to 200 Asian restaurants to find the Top 50, which are revealed in Metro’s September issue. The judges included the magazine’s own expert contributor Connie Clarkson and restaurant manager and Asia Downunder cooking presenter Geeling Ng.

The judges said Soto’s executive chef Makoto Tokuyama serves “culinary marvels”. They mentioned in particular a signature dish featuring seafood morsels in shredded filo tempura, the “agedashi” tofu served in broth, and the “sublime”chawan mushi, a pot of steamed savoury custard, served with shiitake mushrooms and seasonal seafood.

In addition to the Supreme Award, Soto won Best Japanese Restaurant.

Among the other winners, the Best Yum Char went to Sunshine in Auckland’s Viaduct, the best Indochinese to Sopheara in Flat Bush (““extraordinarily good Cambodian food”), and the Best Indian Restaurant to Satya, which has three outlets in Ponsonby, Karangahape Rd and Sandringham. The Best Food Hall, as voted by Metro readers, was won by the long-established Food Alley (Albert St, City).

The full Metro Asian Restaurant Awards 2008 Top 50 list with descriptions and details of each restaurant will be published in the September issue of Metro (on sale Monday 25th August).

Asia Downunder will feature the winning restaurants on Sunday 24th August, 8.30am on TV One.

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THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
• Supreme Winner - SOTO
• Best Japanese - SOTO
• Best Asian Fusion - CHOW

• Best Malaysian - MALAYSIAN NONYA
• Best Korean - MAPO
• Best Chinese - PEARL GARDEN
• Best Indian - SATYA
• Best Indochinese - SOPHEARA
• Best Thai - THAI FRIENDS
• Best Yum Char - SUNSHINE
• Best Food Hall - FOOD ALLEY

TOP 50 (in alphabetical order)
• ARIAKE
• AUNTIE FONG
• BANGKOK CAFE
• CHOW
• CANTON CAFE
• DAK HANMARI
• EIJI
• GION
• GOUEMON
• GRAND HARBOUR
• HP8
• JAVA ROOM
• KABUKI
• KEN YAKITORI
• KK MALAYSIAN
• KURA
• LITTLE BALI
• LITTLE INDIA
• LIVE FISH
• MAE GLONG
• MALAYSIAN NONYA
• MAPO
• MEKONG NEUA
• MIGA
• MONTHIEN
• OH CALCUTTA
• PEARL GARDEN
• PHO SOUTH VIETNAM / BANH MI BALE
• PUNJABI DHABA
• RAMEN DAIKOKU
• RIKKA
• SAFFRON
• SAKE BAR RIKKA
• SANCHUN BAMBOO HOUSE
• SATYA
• SECRET THAI GARDEN
• SHAHI
• SOPHEARA
• SOTO
• SRI PINANG
• SRI PUTERI’S
• STAR CAFÉ
• SUNSHINE
• TAIKO
• TANUKI’S CAVE
• TASTE OF FIJI
• THAI FRIENDS
• THAI HOUSE
• TOM YUM EDEN
• ZAP 2

About Metro
Sophisticated and clever, Metro magazine is aimed at readers who care about Auckland.
The magazine’s trademarks are its bumper-size format, award-winning journalism, comprehensive restaurant reviews and incisive comment on city life.

About ACP Magazines
ACP Magazines is a division of ACP Media. It publishes some of the country’s most popular magazines, including Woman’s Day, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Next, Taste, Metro and North & South. ACP Magazines also has a range of market-leading websites, including taste.co.nz, cleo.co.nz, yourhomeandgarden.co.nz and runwayreporter.co.nz.

About Asia Downunder
Asia Downunder screens on TV One, Sunday at 8.30am, and is all about Asia and Asians in New Zealand. ADU tackles topical and even controversial stories affecting Asian Kiwis. They feature stories as diverse as art, business, sport, music, fashion, youth, culture, refugees, food and many more.

ENDS

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