Oliver Awards: Shortlist announced for 8th annual Yorkshire Evening Post Oliver Awards, with almost 400 entries, it's our biggest ceremony yet

The Oliver Awards began eight years ago and are based on the weekly restaurant reviews which appear in our paper and online. This year, we had almost 400 individual category entries - our most to date, which made judging the shortlist even harder than ever. It’s never an easy job when you have so many good quality restaurants from which to choose.

Here, we list those restaurants which were deemed by our judges as having that little something extra or who stood out in other ways, either for their food, service, atmosphere or value for money.

This year’s awards have also been expanded, with two additional categories for Best Street Food and Best Rural, meaning there are now 16 categories, in addition to the Outstanding Contribution and Overall Winner awards, for which all out shortlist nominees will be eligible.

Although we say it every year, Oliver has never seen such a strong line-up. The dining scene in and around Leeds continues to go from strength to strength, emboldened by recent industry success, confident in its own abilities and committed to maintaining the high standards which have seen the region gain national recognition.

These awards are designed to praise all of those who work in the restaurant industry in Leeds and surrounding area: the chefs and back-room staff, those meeting and greeting the public, all of whom share in a vision to be the best they can.