A Chinese restaurant in Dingwall has been crowned the top takeaway in Scotland.
Dings Chinese Restaurant and Takeaway, on the town’s High Street, won Takeaway & Home Delivery of the Year in the Scottish Asian Food Awards 2023.
Owners Lily and Neil Aquino were shocked to hear they had made the finals of the prestigious competition – as they hadn’t even entered.
Instead, they had been nominated by their loyal customers.
Lily told The Press and Journal: “I received a call saying that we were in the final and I asked: how is that possible? We haven’t even entered the competition.
“I was told it was our customers who had nominated us.”
Lily, 47, and Neil, 48, were on holiday in the Philippines when their daughter called them on January 8 to tell them they had won.
The couple, originally from the Philippines, say the secret to their success is hard work, dedication and using quality local ingredients in their food.
Dings’ story is also a love story as its owners Lily and Neil have been together for 29 years and have three kids, Andrea, 25, Patricia, 19, and Nicholas, 6.
They met at university in the Philippines while studying Hotel and Restaurant Management and worked at the same hotel after graduating.
They moved to Scotland in 2006 and worked for two years at The Ben Wyvis Hotel in Strathpeffer.
They joined Dings Takeaway after its opening in 2008 and in 2016, they took over the business from Ben Chan, the current chef, who “just wanted to concentrate on his cooking.”
Lily describes her husband as “a very hard worker” and says that love plays an important part in their small but thriving takeaway.
“I could work with him for another 30 years because we’ve been through ups and downs, but we’ve always managed to face all the challenges.”
The secret to Dings’ success
Ben Chen, 53, who has worked as a chef for 30 years, is one of the three key pillars of the takeaway.
Born in Hong Kong, he cooks “authentic” traditional Cantonese recipes and makes all sauces from scratch.
Lily also highlighted the quality of the ingredients – “We get our meat from Munro’s Dingwall and our vegetables from Williamson in Inverness.”
She explained that the secrets to their success are “hard work, dedication and commitment to provide quality food.”
This work ethic has led them to have many loyal customers and clients from all over the UK.
“We get people from Dingwall saying that a friend told them: ‘If you go to the Highlands, go to Dings.’”
A round of questions with Lily Aquino, owner of Dings Takeaway…
Favourite thing about Dingwall?
Its people. They are very friendly; we love it here.
Pick Dings’ best dish
Sweet and sour chicken Cantonese style, which is Ben’s speciality and the shredded crispy chilly chicken.
Most popular dish?
Our salt chilli garlic chicken and salt chilli garlic chips are becoming very popular.
Favourite place in Scotland?
Dingwall. Because it’s our home.
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