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OMAN TODAY RESTAURANT AWARDS 2006
After two months of voting the finalists have been declared as the event heads into the second phase

The first phase of the Oman Today Restaurant Awards 2006, which has a new modified format, is over and the results have been declared for all to see. The people of the sultanate have chosen their favourite places for dining out. After collating the 87,000 votes received over the two months of voting three finalists have been chosen in each of the 11 award categories. In phase two, judges will anonymously visit each of the restaurants nominated and these finalists will be awarded points on the basis of specified criteria. Collation of points awarded by the judges will lead to the winner in each category.

Coming back to the finalists however, this year's voting has seen most of last year's contenders retain their position as Oman's top restaurants while some of the winners from last year have not made it to the list. In the category Ambience, The Chedi – winner in the same category in 2005 – retains its position as one of the top three. Meanwhile, the Al Khiran Terrace at the Al Bustan Palace InterContinental Hotel, which won in the category Buffet in 2005, and the Grand Hyatt Muscat that won the award for top service are not among the finalists. Last year's winners who have made it to the various categories also include Starbucks Coffee in the Café category, Golden Oryx for Far Eastern cuisine, Pizza Hut under Fast Food, Kamat among Indian restaurants, The Chedi in the International section, Tuscany at the Grand Hyatt Muscat for Italian food and Automatic for Middle Eastern cuisine. Of the 62 restaurants that took part in the competition, 27 were chosen by the public to be the finalists in the eleven categories.

The final awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 13 at a gala ceremony at the Shangri-La's Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa. "The first phase involved public voting that ended on September 15. An astounding 87,000 votes have now been counted and this is especially remarkable considering that this year the voting carried on only for two months as opposed to the usual three months," said Mohana Prabhakar, managing editor of Apex Press and Publishing, at a press conference announcing the finalists in each category. Last year three months of voting had resulted in 90,000 votes.

With the new format expected to throw up a few surprises it is going to be a wait till the end of the year to find out who is best. Until then the competition for top spots continues.