Qatar Today Restaurant Awards 2006: A salute to those who tickle our taste

    Third year in the running and getting more popular by the day! That's Qatar Today Restaurant Awards 2006, where the who's who of the hospitality industry came together to celebrate the best in
business.

   
    Qatar, with its booming economy, is increasingly attracting more and more multi-cultural and multi-linguistic groups of people. Naturally, the diversity of cuisines that are available and gaining popularity is increasing rapidly.
    It is in recognition of this diversity that  Qatar Today Restaurant Awards 2006 was instituted in October 2004.

    This unique promotion invited readers and food aficionados to vote for their favourite restaurant. The voting forms were carried within the magazine and made available at the participating restaurants, shopping malls and other popular joints.
    Twelve restaurants were given the Best of Category awards for the year 2006. The ballots were cast for 12 categories of cuisines covering more than 300 restaurants and eateries. More than 50,000 votes were received.
    The Awards evening was held at the Dana Club, and representatives of the hospitality industry turned out in full strength to hear the verdict.  

    Amongst the winners, quite a few have retained the awards in their respective categories, like Applebee's, The Garden Restaurant, Cafe Bateel and Paloma. The other winners include Layali, Chopsticks, The Italian Job, Caravan Bukhara, McDonald's, Costa Coffee, Pearl and Habanos.
    Oryx Advertising Company General Manager Sandeep Sehgal, Assistant General Manager Alpana Roy, Assistant General Manager and Senior Business Manager Ravi Raman presented the awards.

Unique Format
    The evening began with Iftaar, after which the MC recapped the history of the awards. The announcement of the awards was interspersed with a cuisine quiz, which drew the audience into the spirit of the evening.
    The questions represented the lead to a particular category of cuisine and the answer led to the introduction of a category, followed by the announcement of the result.
    The first question, for instance, was, "Shorba is the regional name of a dish that has a Western counterpart. Where from does Shorba originate?" The correct answer to this is of course, Arabia, which led to the first category of awards - the Best Arabic Restaurant.

Sidelis Odogbo, PR Coordinator at The Ritz-Carlton recieves the award for the Best Lounge Bar, Habanos from Alpana Roy, Assistant General Manager, Oryx Advertising Co

The Winners
The competition among the nominees was tough. But it is the 'best' in the judgement of the customers who have won the awards in each category.

The Partners
    Qatar Today Restaurant Awards 2006 was partnered by TechnoQ, DTM and Dana Club.
    TechnoQ established in the year 1995 specializes in design, supply, and installation of audiovisual, presentation, security, hospitality and control systems in Qatar. It provides its services and products to leading businesses such as banks, automobile showrooms, and residential compounds, auditoriums, meeting rooms, retails outlets and hotels.
    DTM is an integrated multimedia production and publishing company. Multimedia services include video production, touch screen production, CD-Rom production, website development, photography, 3D & digital design and print. DTM publishes the highly successful Explore Qatar series of products. The series includes videos, books, CD-ROMs and a web portal aimed at residents and visitors to Qatar.
    Dana Club, which was recently renovated, is a luxury sports and social club attached to the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. It houses tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness facilities, library, restaurants and banqueting facilities