Izah Azahari
The Brunei Food Awards (BFA) continued its food judging activities at the Excapade Japanese Cuisine in Serusop yesterday.
Ambassador of Thailand to Brunei Darussalam Wanthanee Viputwongsakul attended as the Special Judge.
Excapade Japanese Cuisine Management Alysha Chong and Assistant Marketing Manager and Public Affairs Wasimah binti Suhili greeted the BFA contingent.
Excapade Japanese Cuisine presented 30 dishes to highlight its main products which included Japanese scallop, nanatsuboshi Hokkaido rice, Japanese abalone and bluefin tuna.
The ambassador spoke with Excapade’s Chefs Songsin, Theerasak and Pop to learn about the kitchen operations and their experience.
“I am honoured to be a part of the BFA. It is a good initiative to encourage those in the food business to improve, especially since this will provide an incentive to improve their dishes and service,” said Wanthanee.
The event concluded with a gift presentation from Excapade’s representative to the Thai Ambassador.
The BFA is the first food and beverage award of its kind, aiming to promote and invigorate the growth of Brunei Darussalam’s food and beverages industry.
BFA recognises and formally awards the best dishes of local and international cuisine across the country.
The food judging activities are an integral part of the BFA where four certified judges including one special judge will evaluate and provide a score to dishes submitted by participating restaurants and eateries.
The highest score given to these dishes will determine the category winner for the Best Dish award of 2020.
The evaluation of dishes is based on the EAT Methodology standard utilised by the World Food Championships that takes into account the execution, appearance and taste of the dish.
One must undergo and pass an examination that is also set by the World Food Championships to qualify as a certified food judge.
Close to 200 eateries and over 500 dishes have been scored and evaluated around Brunei Darussalam to date while 200 more are expected to be evaluated this month before the official BFA ceremony is expected to take place in December.
The BFA in collaboration with the Brunei Association of Hotels (BAH) will host a presentation at the Setia Pahlawan Hall of the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism on Thursday at 8.30pm.
The agenda includes a presentation by the Manpower Industry Steering Committee (MISC) Hospitality and Tourism sector of the Manpower Planning and Employment Council (MPEC), the setting up of the Brunei Darussalam Food and Beveraged Executives Association and a presentation on the Brunei Food Awards 2020.
Restaurants and food vendors, including those under the Village Consultative Councils (MPK) are invited to attend.