The Best Takeaways In Ireland Have Been Revealed!

Takeaways are something of an international institution, and have been ever since they were first conceived.

The takeaway was first accidentally invented in 1999 by an American man, Howard Christ, who, when leaving a restaurant after a meal, realised he had absent-mindedly carried a half-eaten burger to the car-park. He was struck by both inspiration, and a heavy-set Polish security guard who, presuming him to be stealing food from the restaurant, tackled him to the ground. A short 3-month period of physical and emotional rehabilitation later and Howard Christ was ready to unleash his idea upon the world - a food-cart that allowed you to buy carrier bags full of hot, hot soup to be eaten, wherever you so chose. Obviously, this business model proved unviable, and his business went into liquidation weeks after opening. The idea however proved sound and was refined by others, perhaps most notably, a certain Ronald McDonald. And lo', the idea takeaway was born [citation needed].

Some 20 years after their advent, takeaways have taken over the world - metaphorically. And it's no surprise to see why. Before takeaways you simply had to either eat at home, or stay on the premises of whatever restaurant you'd visisted to purchase food. Takeaways entirely destroyed this stiffling hegemony. Suddenly, you could buy a burger and eat it in a car-park; have a curry in a lay-by; chow mein by a canal - all of these, now every day realities were, prior to the invention of the takeaway, but the stuff of a madman's fantasy.

Well, to celebrate the ubiquity of the takeaway, an annual award has been launched by the team behind YesChef food and drinks magazine. The awards, dubbed the Irish Takeaway Awards, doled out their inaugural round of accolades yesterday.

They allowed members of the public to vote for their favourite takeaway across a range of categories. Indeed, this range of categories is so broad that it would be churlish of me to try rattle off a few here considering that immediately below this paragraph each of the categories and winners are listed. So, simply shift your gaze an inch to the south and begin to survey these dispensories of deliciousness.

American Takeaway of the Year 2019 - Cranky Yankee Corn Dogs, Dublin

Newcomer of the Year 2019 - Johnny’s Ranch, Ramelton, Donegal

Italian Takeaway of the Year 2019 - Fire & Stone Pizzeria, Limavady, Derry

Kebab Takeaway of the Year 2019 - Sphinx Stranmillis, Belfast

Mexican Takeaway of the Yearn 2019 - Vocho, Galway

Vegetarian Takeaway of the Year 2019 -The Gourmet Offensive, Galway

Innovative Takeaway of the Year 2019 - Boxty’s, Galway

Sweet Treat of the Year 2019 - Mammy Johnston’s, Sligo

Indian Takeaway of the Year 2019- Chandpur, Donegal

The Champion Chip Award 2019 - Mangans Traditional Fish & Chips, Wexford

Asian Takeaway of the Year 2019 - Miyazaki, Cork

Takeaway Team of the Year 2019 - Genoa Café, Warrenpoint, Down