Three Belfast eateries up for awards founded by TV personality Gok Wan

COSMO – based in Victoria Square – and Cathedral Quarter eateries Dumpling Library and House of Zen are all battling it out for the The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland.

The Golden Chopsticks Awards are co-founded by Gok Wan himself, with the 2024 ceremony taking place in London on Monday night.

COSMO are also nominated in the The Golden Chopsticks Best Restaurant Multi-Site category and Best Sweet Treat.

Kan Koo, partner at COSMO said: “We’re thrilled to have COSMO in the running to be named Best Restaurant in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland at the prestigious Golden Chopsticks Awards.

"To be considered for an award which specifically celebrates East and South East Asian cuisine as a multi-cuisine restaurant proves just how much effort our teams put into ensuring guests can enjoy an authentic experience, tasting some of the best handpicked dishes from across Asia.

"We’ve seen how much customers enjoy our Teppanyaki and Chinese menus, so we’re delighted to see it acknowledged on a national level.”

Gok Wan is no stranger to the best cuisine Belfast has to offer, with the TV personality often in the city when he used to have a residency at the Kremlin nightclub.

Last year he revealed his favourite post-nightclub takeaway was Spaghetti Arms, situated just around the corner from the nightclub and said the food has stuck with him over the years, describing their signature ‘Dirty Goujon’ dish as “one of the best things” he has ever eaten.

"I had a residency at the Kremlin which was so much fun and I was there for years up until lockdown but I haven't been since,” he told the Robin Elliott Tonight show in October.

“But I was there for about two years almost every month. You know one of the best things about playing at the Kremlin in Belfast? Next door at the chip shop they do a dish called dirty goujons.

"Chicken nuggets, more gravy, more cheese. It is lethal.

"Genuinely it is one of the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life.

"I need to get a gig at the Kremlin and I need to come over for some dirty goujons.”

Back in 2021 the fashion guru – best known for his How To Look Good Naked series – was awarded an MBE for services to fashion and social awareness, having had to delay receiving the accolade due to illness that year.