More than 1,000 restaurateurs, celebrity patrons, ambassadors and VIP guests attended the presentation dinner of the very first British Curry Awards on September 2005.

Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy hosted the event at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane , where a list of top celebrities announced the names of the restaurants that had been voted ‘best of the best' throughout the UK .

2005 awards winners were:

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in Central London and the City: Bombay Brasserie, Kensington SW7

British Curry Award Most Innovative Restaurant in London : Tamarind, Mayfair , W1

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in Greater London & Suburbs: Curry Mahal, Harrow

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in the South of England : Malik's, Cookham, Berkshire

British Curry Award Most Innovative Restaurant in the South: Aziz, Oxford

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in the Midlands : Rajnagar International, Solihull

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in the North: Aagrah, Shipley, West Yorkshire

British Curry Award Most Innovative Restaurant in the North: Vujon, Newcastle

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in Wales : Juboraj Rhiwbina, Cardiff

British Curry Award Best Restaurant in Scotland : Britannia Spice, Leith

A special award, sponsored by British Curry Awards organisers Spice Business Magazine , went to Atul Kochhar of London 's Benares Restaurant for making the most outstanding contribution to the curry industry by a chef.

Although unable to attend, Prime Minister Tony Blair sent a special message in support of the British Curry Awards.

He said: “ Britain 's £3.2 billion curry restaurant industry has for many years now been a leading player in the restaurant and catering sector as a whole, and it is fitting that excellence in the industry should be recognised at such a prestigious event.

“I know that the organisers have received thousands of nominations, and that the finalists have survived a rigorous judging process. I offer my congratulations to all of the award winners.”

More than 2,800 restaurants were nominated for the awards by 13,000 individuals, making the British Curry Awards the most representative as well as the largest awards in the industry.

Enam Ali, publisher and editor of Spice Business, told the audience: “For me, this evening is the realisation of a long-held ambition to provide the curry restaurant industry with a fitting showcase that properly reflects its position as the nation's favourite food.

“Virtually all other entertainment sectors – and, after all, we are a strand of the entertainment business – have a glamorous night in their calendar when they recognise and reward the stars of their industry. But, until now, this has been missing from our industry. Yet if any sector deserves an Oscars-style night of celebration, it is this one.

“After all, we have come a very long way in a relatively short period of time. Just 30 years ago, there were fewer than 500 curry restaurants in the UK . Today there are more than 9,000 employing around 70,000 people and turning over a phenomenal £3.2 billion a year. By any yardstick, that is a stunning achievement and one that is fully deserving of the prestige that flows from this sort of high-profile awards evening.”

The ten award winners were chosen from a final shortlist of 30 restaurants from all regions (see list below). They, in turn, had been whittled down from a Top 100 selected by a panel of judges from all the nominated restaurants.

Speakers at the awards dinner included Sir Gulam Noon, chairman of Noon Products; Simon Dyson, chairman of the Anthony Nolan Trust, the British Curry Awards' selected charity, and Nigel Leacock of Lloyds TSB Cardnet, principal sponsors of the awards.