Belfast Chinese The Welcome takes crown at Golden Chopsticks Awards

A Belfast Chinese restaurant has taken the top spot in Northern Ireland at a prestigious Asian food awards ceremony.

The Golden Chopsticks Awards recognises East and South East Asian cuisine across the UK with a mission to celebrate the enormous contribution of restaurateurs and food businesses to the UK catering industry and champion the food heroes and heroines working within it.

With such a significant Chinese population in Northern Ireland and innumerable delicious Chinese restaurants and takeaways in our midst, it’s fair to say that Ulster boasts perhaps some of the best Asian food in the UK.

The Welcome in Stranmillis, owned by the Wong family, which is something of an institution, and certainly one of the most popular Asian eateries in affluent, leafy South Belfast, has been named the Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland for 2022.

Its Hong Kong cuisine includes chow mein and fried rice dishes, as well as curries, satays, honey and chilli specialities and Malaysian options – all the Chinese fare that so many of us across the province have come to know and love.

It beat stiff competition from other Belfast establishments including The Dumpling Library in St Anne’s Square and COSMO, who were also shortlisted for the coveted accolade.

The Wong family opened their first Welcome Restaurant in Northern Ireland in 1973, making it the oldest Chinese established eaterie in the province.

Its Stranmillis Restaurant was opened in 1982 and is now in its second generation.

Charlie and Michael Wong, sons of the founder, took over the restaurant in 2016.

The Golden Chopstick Awards (or GCAs) were founded in 2017 by TV presenter Gok Wan, managing director of Oriental Food Specialist SeeWoo UK Lucy Mitchell, and food and drink PR and communications specialist Sarah Lewis.

United by their love of East and South East Asian cuisine and culture, the founding trio were surprised that there was no event dedicated to celebrating the successes of this sector, and decided to launch the awards to fill this gap.

The Welcome Restaurant has twice been previously short-listed in the finalist category for the prestigious title of Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland at The Golden Chopsticks Awards in both 2018 and 2019, but this is the first year the restaurant has taken the crown.