Beverley’s culinary high standards have hit the national headlines again after one of the town’s most popular restaurant and takeaway was named as the best noodle takeaway in the country.
Just weeks after Beverley resident Eddie Scott was crowned this year’s MasterChef champion, Flemingate’s Sumo Pan Asian took part in the noodle episode of BBC Two’s ‘Britain’s Top Takeaways’.
The team of Gary Chin and staff member Scott were representing Sumo Pan Asian, which also has premises in Hessle, taking on several other noodle specialists from around the country.
Instead of judges from the world of food, the dishes cooked on Britain’s Top Takeaways are assessed by families and couples, who tasted some of Sumo Pan Asian’s dishes that are inspired by travels to Korea, China, Thailand and Japan.
The first order cooked by Gary, the owner of the restaurant, was Thai red tofu curry.
The vegetarian dish received glowing reviews from those who had the opportunity to taste it.
Comments from ‘judges’ Liam and Leah and Keith and Linda included ‘the noodles are cooked lovely’, ‘falling apart’, ‘it has lots of flavour’ and ‘it’s a very nice dish’.
Sumo Pan Asian received a maximum five points from Liam and Leah and four points from Keith and Linda, putting them joint leaders of the competition after the first round.
The Spencer family and twins Nick and Royston were the diners in the meat round and Gary and Scott decided to showcase Singapore chow mein, the number one selling dish in the restaurant.
Although not as well-liked as the tofu dish, it still earned six points from the judges, putting the duo top of the leaderboard.
The final challenge was to cook bulk orders for the Williams family and a team of rugby players from Spartans RUFC.
Although their Chicken Pad Thai impressed, it received just one point from the Williams’.
With double points on offer, Gary and Scott needed a high score from the rugby players and they were suitably impressed with the Thai red tofu curry, enough for Sumo Pan Asian to finish top of the pile on 24 points.
At the end of the episode, a delighted Gary said: “When I came here, I didn’t believe I would win, so I am really happy.
“I’m proud and my mum, my wife and my son will be proud of me as well.”
Sumo Pan Asian’s victory was the second for East Yorkshire on Britain’s Top Takeaways, after Hull’s Dope Burger won the burger episode.
Owner Gary is currently in the process of opening a tapas bar and restaurant, Soju by Sumo, in Beverley’s former Laura Ashley shop.
