Southsea's Agora Restaurant highly commended in British Kebab Awards 2025

Agora Restaurant, on Clarendon Road, was voted as one of the 10 nominees for the Best Kebab Restaurant Regional category at the British Kebab Awards. While Tarla Restaurant in Stevenage took the top prize, the votes were so close that Agora was given a highly commended award to acknowledge its achievement.

Dilan Sener, who manages Agora, was delighted with the award. She said: “It was amazing, we have been in Portsmouth for 23 years so after all this time to be recognised is an amazing achievement. Our team is so motivated now, it’s a close-knit family business and our team has been with us 10 plus years, they put their heart and soul into it. It is an amazing achievement for them and not just us as the owners.”

The recognition was particularly gratifying for Dilan who only became a partner at the restaurant with her dad, Yilmaz Sener, in the past year. She said: “I have only become a partner with my dad in the last year and I have been managing it for the past four years. We have revamped the menu, the décor, and it is really special to see that my efforts have played a part and been recognised. Its a really nice feeling.

“Obviously my parents food and their hard work is the main reason as they are the head chefs. It’s just a really amazing feeling to be recognised in this way.”

Having made it to the final through votes from the public, the finalist were judged in a number of different ways. Hygiene ratings, press coverage, customer ratings and reviews were all combined to find a winner. Not every category had a highly commended award, it was just for those where it was so close it would be unfair to not recognise one of the eateries.

Agora posted pictures and video of the awards night on social media which has already led to new customers coming into try their food. Dilan wanted to thank those that help make the awards possible. She said: “A huge thank you to our customers and everyone that voted for us.”

There were three other local businesses who were nominated for an award. The Boss Kebab van in Wickham was unable to take home the title of Kebab Van of the Year for a second year in a row with Burwell Kebab Van taking home the honour.

Mehmet Kitchen on Copnor Road and Dilan Kebab in Leigh Park were nominated in the Customer Satisfaction and Best Takeaway Regional categories respectively. Winners of Customer satisfaction were Meram Kitchen in Christchurch, while Zem Kebab of High Wycombe and Master Kebabs in Gillingham won Best Takeaway Regional.

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