Seafish | Gamba | UK Restaurant of the Year 2015

Scottish seafood specialist Gamba was confirmed the UK’s Restaurant of the Year 2015 at the inaugural awards last night. The Restaurant of the Year 2015 was created to find restaurants demonstrating excellent examples of cooking and serving fish and shellfish, as well as evidence of fish and shellfish knowledge among its staff.

Gamba, based on West George Street, Glasgow, edged above the rest as the national winner against five shortlisted restaurants in a ceremony at London’s Michelin starred Benares Restaurant, home of judge Atul Kochhar. The already two AA rosette award-winning seafood restaurant, owned by chef Derek Marshall, impressed the judges during the various rounds of the competition, including mystery dining judging visits by Seafish auditors. During the process Gamba demonstrated a passion for responsible and local sourcing, displayed robust sustainability policies and practices and provided outstanding customer service through its unique dining experience. Derek and his team also excelled in promoting lesser-known species and supporting its staff’s seafood product knowledge through its training programme. Paul Williams, CEO of Seafish, said, “Celebrating the people and businesses that are the public face of our industry and who do such an amazing job in promoting the great wealth and variety of fish and shellfish available to the UK consumer is extremely important.”

Gamba was presented with a trophy for their restaurant and a range of other prizes including, the opportunity for some staff to attend a seafood masterclass course at the world renowned Billingsgate Seafood Training School. All five shortlisted finalist restaurants also win an all-expenses-paid study trip to Brixham, Devon, later this year, courtesy of Seafish. The trip will offer information regarding the catching, processing and supply of seafood to the UK restaurant sector. During the trip, representatives from the finalists’ restaurants will meet a range of fishermen, fish processors and other key industry players and experience some of the world’s freshest and tastiest seafood.

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