A Helensburgh restaurant has been the crowned the best of its kind in Scotland for a record fifth year in a row.

La Barca Spanish Tapas Bar lifted the title of ‘Best World Cuisine’ at the glitzy 7th annual Scottish Entertainment and Hospitality Awards on Sunday.

The multi-award winning restaurant triumphed over nine other finalists from across the country to bring the trophy home to Helensburgh again.

Owners Cara and Milan Nikolic of Kilcreggan were stunned when judges told them they had “won by a mile.”

Cara said:”I was absolutely shocked when they called out our name. I had convinced myself that we couldn’t win it again and that it must be someone else’s turn.

“One of the judges came to our table afterwards and told me we had won by a mile. She said nine out of the 11 dishes they had were ‘exceptional’ and she loved the atmosphere, decor and use of local produce.

“The mystery judges turned up at the peak time of 7.30pm on the Saturday of the Easter weekend when we were absolutely packed.

“After their meal when they revealed who they were I thought they’ve chosen one of our busiest nights of the year to judge us this is going to be tough to win.

“But she said she was very impressed with how the staff handled everything on such a busy night.

“It’s praise indeed and says an incredible amount about the fantastic team in the kitchen and front of house that they still managed to blow the judges away.”

La Barca attended the red carpet event in Glasgow’s Merchant Square with staff from Padrone which was shortlisted for ‘Best Italian Restaurant’ but lost out on the night.

La Barca first won their category, which was then called ‘Scotland’s Best Mediterranean’, in 2014.

Following their hatric in 2016 they were the subject of a special day motion congratulating them for “putting Helensburgh on the map” by both Argyll MP Brendan O’Hara in the House of Commons and MSP Jackie Baillie in the Scottish Parliament.

Cara added: “The category is huge now and we were up against Chinese, Mexican, Spanish, Arabian and fusion restaurants from Inverness to Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Largs.

“We’d like to thank all our amazing customers for voting us to the final and the incredibly hard working team at La Barca who smashed it again."