Mike Penning MP has congratulated the winners and runners-up of the local round of the ‘Tiffin Cup’.

Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning has visited the winners and runners-up of the Hemel Hempstead constituency nomination for the Tiffin Cup and presented a banner to the winner and certificates to the runners-up.

The Tiffin Cup is awarded each year by a cross-party group of Members of Parliament called the Tiffin Club. Each Member of Parliament is invited to nominate the best South Asian restaurant in their constituency.

Mike selected his local nomination by holding a competition with members of the public voting for their favourite via his website.

The winning restaurant for 2011 was The Pavillion in Markyate and the runner up was Sahara in Gadebridge.

The Pavillion will now go through to the next round. The competition concludes with the national finalists attending a Grand Final special “cook-off” at Bellamy's Restaurant in the Houses of Parliament. This high profile event attracts a large number of visitors and not only celebrates the diversity of South Asian food in the UK, but also raises money for the Tiffin Cup’s chosen charity. This year’s charity is 'World Vision' which works globally to speak out for children affected by injustice and poverty.

Mike said:
“I congratulate The Pavillion and hope that they get through to the grand final in London. This is a great opportunity to promote South Asian food and the high quality of our local restaurants. I am delighted with the huge public response to the competition with the number of nominations running into several hundreds.”

Last year, the national winner was ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Swindon. The local nomination was the Sitar in Boxmoor who achieved a ‘Highly Commended’ in the national competition.

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