Tempo Readers' Choice Awards

By KATE MONAHAN - Waikato Times

The results are in. We asked you to vote in our annual Tempo Readers' Choice Awards in November and hundreds and hundreds of you took the time to put pen to paper, or vote online, and have your say on the best of the Waikato.*

It's the fifth year of the awards, which cover four categories: food and drink, retail, beauty and hair and tourism.

There are some old favourites on the 2009 list, including some who have won in previous years.

And then there are the new upstarts, who have knocked the 2008 winners off their perch.

This year the economic recession had a notable impact on votes, with competitively priced chain stores getting a lot of support in the retail categories.

This year, money talked. Last year's fashion category winner was designer fashion boutique The White Room. This year readers plumped for a trendy but affordable fashion chain, Max Fashions. Even among the list of runners up we noticed it: cheap-as-chips stores Diva and Number One Shoes also got a fair number of votes in their categories (best jewellery and shoe store, respectively).

Readers didn't vote for the cheapest stores - it was more "middle of the road" people were plumping for, and those with excellent customer service pulled votes during a year where people were picky about how they spent their disposable income.

The winners represent the best in their game. They, and the list of honourable mentions in each category, got votes for a reason - they deliver a rewarding experience, great service or excellent products in the eyes of hundreds of Tempo readers. For that reason we recommend you check them out, and support these businesses.

Congratulations to the winners, and to those who got honourable mentions. You are doing a great job and your customers have noticed!

 

BEST RESTAURANT: Furnace - Victoria St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in order of votes): Palate, The Bank Bar & Restaurant, The Woodbox Winery, Restaurant & Bar, Pumice Bistro, Lone Star Cafe & Bar, Cullens, Iguana Street Bar & Restaurant, Domaine Restaurant, Cafe En Q, Smith & McKenzie Restaurant & Bar, Scotts Epicurean.

 

BEST CAFE: Scotts Epicurean - Victoria St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Metropolis Caffe, Momento Espresso, Crave Cafe & Catering, Grace on Braid, Jacks Coffee Lounge, The River Kitchen, Pumice Bistro, Robert Harris Cafe, Grey St Kitchen.

 

BEST TAKEAWAYS: Burger Fuel - Victoria St and Five Cross Rds, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Scoff, Seafood Bazaar, Sheff's Takeaways, Hell's Pizza, Tuk Tuk Thai Food, Little India Bistro & Tandoor, KFC, Noodle Box, Burger King, Subway, Fu Wha Chinese Takeaways.

 

BEST BAR OR PUB: Bar 101 - Victoria St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Helm Bar & Kitchen, Furnace Restaurant Bar & Nightclub, Easy Tiger, The Bank Bar & Restaurant, Cock & Bull, The Cook Cafe & Bar, CBD Corner Pub, Singer Bar, Redoubt Bar & Eatery (Te Awamutu), Rodeo Rodeo, Diggers Bar.

 

BEST ETHNIC EATERY: Little India - Alexandra St and Rototuna, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jaipur Walla, The Original Thai Restaurant, Thai Village Cafe, Tuk Tuk Thai Food, I Japanese Cafe, Lemongrass Thai Cuisine (Te Awamutu), Indian Aroma.

 

BEST SHOE STORE: Overland - Centre Place, The Base and Chartwell, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Hannahs Shoes, Number 1 Shoes, Wild Pair, Mi Piaci, Bella Boutique, Harlow Shoes, Kumfs Shoes, Collins Family Footwear, Foot Locker, Footloose, David Elman Shoes.

 

BEST JEWELLERY STORE: Michael Hill - Chartwell and Victoria St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Pascoes The Jewellers, Diva, Beamish Gemtime Jeweller (Te Awamutu), Hart Jeweller, The Goldsmiths Gallery, Precious Metals, Gemtime Jewellers (Centre Place), Silvermoon, Diamond & Time, Midas Diamond Jewellers, Stewart Dawsons Jewellery, Equip.

BEST FASHION CLOTHING STORE: Max - Centre Place, Chartwell, and The Base

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Glassons, Ooby Ryn (Cambridge), Lippy, Meccano Mens Clothing, Staxs, Cene, North Beach Surf n Skate, Caroline Eve, Nes, Wild Pair, Pagani Clothing, Dotti, The White Room, Jay Jays.

 

BEST HOME DECOR OR FURNITURE STORE: Freedom - Anglesea St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS:Harvey Norman, Forlongs Furnishings, Abode Acquisitions, Modena Home Design Centre, Redcurrent, Mainly Chairs, Briscoes Homeware.

 

BEST NEW STORE: Smiggle - Westfield Chartwell, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Stem Art by Nature, 3G Teak (Te Awamutu), Rooms Furniture & Design.

 

BEST HAIR SALON: Modo - Flagstaff Shopping Centre, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: id, Zig Zag Hair Design, Zibido, Rodney Wayne Hairdressing, Morph Hair, Obsession Hairdressing, Ktizo.

 

BEST SPA OR BEAUTY SALON: Waters Day Spa - Victoria St, Hamilton

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Body Cafe, Pure Essentials, Natural Beauty, Caci Medispa, Unique Skin & Body Clinic, Beauty World, About Body, The Skin Spa.

 

BEST WAIKATO EVENT: Balloons Over Waikato

HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars, New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays, Waikato Home & Garden Show, All Blacks versus Springboks rugby match, Round the Bridges run/walk, Hamilton Summer Gardens Festival, Supercross.

 

BEST WAIKATO DESTINATION: Hamilton Gardens

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Raglan, Hamilton Lake, Waikato River walkways, Waitomo Caves, Maungatautari Ecological Island Reserve, Cambridge, Hamilton Zoo.

 

* There were a total of 631 valid voting forms received online and by mail. Entries were vigorously analysed and repeat entries or those who did not fulfil rules were eliminated. Honourable mentions are listed in order by number of votes received, and only those receiving at least 10 independent votes in each category are mentioned.