KOCHI: It was the culmination of 80 days of voting, jury visits, and patient deliberations on quality, worth, hygiene, innovation and more. The Kochi Kitchen Awards 2019, the second edition of the event organised by Via Kochi, took place at Ramada Resort by Wyndham Kochi on Sunday.The skies cleared for a few hours, and nature seemed to be smiling at Kochi’s best restaurateurs and food bloggers as they walked on stage to accept their trophies. The awards, which had Tasty Nibbles as the title sponsor and Mr Butler as the powered by partner, were instituted in 17 categories.
Rasoi@Fort Kochi won in the North Indian category for the second year in a row; Urban Paratha and Sardarji Ka Dhaba came in second and third. In the South Indian category, Brindhavan was the winner, while Gokul Oottupura came a close second, followed by Hotel Aryaas Park. The Arabic category saw Zaatar Arabic Restaurant taking home the trophy, followed by Monsoon Days and Slice of Spice. Bloomsbury’s won in the Continental category, with Cafe 17 coming in second place and Mi Casa being placed third.
The Naadan category was one which saw a lot of interest, and Dhe Puttu came in first. Original Tellicherry Kitchen and Palaaram came in second and third respectively. The Asian category saw the highest scores in the entire competition; Nasi and Mee was named the Best Asian Restaurant, while Thai Soul (Grand Hyatt) came in second and Ming’s Wok—a crowd favourite—came in third.
In the multi-cuisine category, The Square (Novotel) came in first. Cheenavala—winning for the second year in a row—took home the award in the Seafood category once again. Dhe Puttu won its second trophy of the evening by topping the fast food category.The Street Food category saw the winners Chennai Thattu Dosai taking home the trophy.
The Baker category saw Cake Hut winning the first prize and in the Sweets & Desserts category, Bikash Babu Sweets won the first prize for the second year in a row. Kafe Kopi Luwak took home the trophy in the Drinks and Beverages category.
All the eight nominated food bloggers won certificates of excellence. The category was topped by Salman Faris (@salmanthefoodie); Jay Menon (@foodiemenon) came in second and Joel Rebbi (@kochinfoodie) was adjudged third. There was one more prize given away to Ashish Lal, winner of the online contest held by Via Kochi: he walked away with a cool E10,000 worth of free food.