Winners of inaugural Manx Menu competition announced!

29 April 2024

The winners of the Isle of Man’s first Manx Menu contest, a celebration of the Isle of Man's diverse Hospitality Sector of Manx chefs, mixologists, waiting-on staff, producers, growers and suppliers, have been announced, with the Boatyard Restaurant being awarded overall winner.

The 2024 Manx Menu Awards ran from 5 February to 1 March, 2024 and featured nine categories with top contenders being selected by public vote, followed by final decision by a panel of independent judges.

The Boatyard Restaurant was declared the overall winner for their excellence in all four categories (starter, main, dessert and speciality drink). The award for Main Course was jointly awarded to the top two businesses.

Award winners for all categories are as follows:

Overall Manx Menu Award: The Boatyard
Manx Menu Starter/Light Bites Award: Frank Matcham’s
Manx Menu Main Course Award: The Creg-Ny-Baa and The Boatyard
Manx Menu Dessert Award: The Creg-Ny-Baa
Manx Menu Speciality Drink Award: The Fyn Bar & Shop
Manx Menu Takeaway Award: The Parish Pantry
Manx Menu Customer Service Award: The Dovecote Tearoom
Manx Menu Product of the Year- Food: Fire Island Chillies
Manx Menu Product of the Year- Drink: Hoolie Rum, Outlier Distilling Company

The competition, a joint initiative between Business Isle of Man and Visit Isle of Man, was entered by 65 businesses, contributing to 123 individual entries across the award categories. The Manx Public determined the finalists, casting over 2,000 verified public votes, demonstrating the high praise and enthusiasm for Manx Food and Drink.

The panel of independent judges selected the winners having been presented with the finalists determined by the public vote, and were asked to consider presentation, originality, and variety of local ingredients used. The judging panel comprised of:

Janna Horsthius, Managing Director of Robinsons who works closely with both Local Producers and Local Hospitality business
Robert Hunter, Chef Lecturer in Professional Cookery and Patisserie UCM Isle of Man
Aimee Ford, award winning cake maker and experienced international judge

The winners of the Manx Menu awards will each receive £1,000 in marketing support to help further promote their businesses with the Overall Manx Menu Award winner receiving £1,500 in marketing support.

Diane Kelsey MLC, Political Member for Business Isle of Man, who attended the award presentation held today at Barrool Suite, commented:

‘It has been heartening to see the response from hospitality businesses and food & drink producers to the inaugural Manx Menu contest. I would like to thank everyone who participated and made this a success and congratulate all the finalists and winners. It is clear that the Manx public takes pride in our food and drink businesses and the incredible talent of our chefs and hospitality staff.

The Economic Strategy made clear that nurturing and encouraging growth in the Island’s hospitality sector forms an important part of our long term vision to ensure the security, vibrancy and sustainability of our economy, and I hope to see such contests become a part of our yearly calendar of events that both the public and businesses look forward to.’

Entries were received from a wide range of businesses located all across the Island all championing the use of local produce.

Robert Hunter, Chef Lecturer at UCM, and Manx Menu judge commented:

‘The Manx Menu was a fantastic opportunity for the hospitality and food production sector to highlight their creativity and commitment to innovation. It was great to see so many impressive entries from such a variety of places across the island.

The initiative really helped to emphasise the array of local suppliers and food provenance on island, which is increasingly important. Our catering students are very lucky to have so many fantastic establishments to choose from.’

All Award winners and Highly Commended recipients (pictures in order below with winner and highly commended for each category)

	Winner	Highly Commended	2nd Place	3rd Place
Overall	The Boatyard Restaurant		2nd - Kiki Lounge	3rd - Little Fish Café
Customer Service	The Dovecote Tearoom
Takeaway	The Parish Pantry - Parish Pizza	Terry's Tato's - Chicken Supreme Jacket
Starter/Light Bite	Frank Matcham's -Pan Seared Scallops	The Dovecote Tearoom - Dovecote Cheese Pie
Main	The Creg-Ny-Baa - Manx Pork Belly in an Isle of Cider Cream Sauce /The Boatyard Restaurant - Manannan’s Cloak	Refuge - Refuge Steak Sandwich
Dessert	The Creg-Ny-Baa -Fynoderee Spiced Rum Bread & Butter Pudding	Greens Café - Greens Yoghurt Cake
Speciality Drink	The Fyn Bar & Shop - The Shapeshifter	Kiki Lounge -The Queenie Martini
Product of the Year - Food	Fire Island Chillies	Isle of Man Salt Co. - Hand Harvested Sea Salt
Product of the Year - Drink	Outlier Distilling Company - Hoolie Manx Rum	Okell's Brewery - Okell's ZERO