Telangana cuisine tickles taste buds

Food awards presented at the week-long event organised by The Hindu and TS Tourism Development Corporation

TSTDC Chairman P. Ramulu and MD Christina Z Chongthu presenting the best Telangana food awards in the 4-star category to Hotel Aalankrita. Also seen are Minerva Hotels V-P Ashok Hemrajaani and Telangana Hoteliers Association president Venkat Reddy. The awards was hosted by The Hindu in collaboration with TSTDC. —Photo: Nagara Gopal

Eat right and one can easily avoid visits to a doctor, happened to be Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) Chairman, P. Ramulu’s prescription for a healthy living.

Week-long festivities

Speaking at the presentation of Telangana Food Awards to hotels that participated in the food festival organised by

The Hindu and TSTDC here on Tuesday, Mr. Ramulu appreciated the initiative of conducting week long festivities dedicated to Telangana culinary delights.

“It was a gastronomic binge for a week,” he quipped.

In her address, TSTDC Managing Director Christina Z Chongthu said the week long festivities with participation of 45 hotels drew good response with authentic menus of Telangana. For three days, the jury went around to all the participating hotels and the Food Plaza at Necklace Road to decide upon the best in different categories, she said.

Winners

Awards were presented to participating hotels in different categories at the function. In the five-star hotel category, Marriott won the first prize followed by ITC Kakatiya (second prize) and The Park (third prize). The best in four-star category included Hotel Aalankrita (first), Hotel Daspalla (second) and Hotel Golkonda (third) while three-star category winners were Best Western Ashoka (first), Central Court (second) and Hotel Katriya (third).

Food courts category winners were Aahar bistro (first), Hotel Vivera (second) and Sridevi Swagruha (third) and those adjudged for best ambience were Hotel Marriott (first), Aalankrita (second) and Aahar bistro (third).

The best food service category selections went to ITC Kakatiya (first), Aalankrita (second) and Aahar bistro (third) while the best chefs chosen were M.V. Naidu (Marriott), Lakshit (ITC Kakatiya) and Thimma Reddy (The Park). In the Restaurant category, Dakshina Mantapam (Taj Tristar) was selected as first, Pickles (Basera) as second, and Haritha, Pragnapur, as third.

Ashok Hemrajaani, vice-president, Minerva Hotels, Sumeet Singh, executive director (Hotels) TSTDC, Venkat Reddy, president, Telangana Hoteliers Association, and P. Ranga Reddy, Regional General Manager, The Hindu , also spoke on the occasion.