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.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall and restrict access – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 12 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 500,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.