The Usha in Burnley and the Kebabish Original in Blackburn have been shortlisted for a national restaurant award.

The Usha and the Rajpoot in Chorley are featured in the Northern region finalists list.

The Kebabish Original and Preston’s EastZeast are named as finalists in the Best Casual Dining category.

The Asian Restaurant Awards are set to take place at the Mercure Piccadilly in Manchester on Tuesday, August 31. The awards are open to restaurants of all Asian and Oriental cuisines.

Judges from the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), which hosts the event, are now visiting the candidates to determine the overall category winners.

The winners will be announced at a gala dinner and presentation ceremony organised at the Mercure Piccadilly on Tuesday 31st August.

The Asian Restaurant Awards cover the full range of Asian and Oriental cuisines: Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

ACF chairman Yawar Khan said: “The pandemic has been devastating for many hospitality businesses and its workers. These awards will acknowledge the sector’s resilience, innovation and generosity in the face of such adversity.”

In order to survive, some Michelin-starred fine dining Indian restaurants began offering takeaways for the first time.

Others sold finish-at-home meal kits, containing pre-measured ingredients and recipe instructions. Another operated pop-up delivery kitchens, based in locked-down pubs.