It’s now official: Rosa’s is the king of fish sandwiches.

In an evening of high culinary drama at Harbour Nights, the restaurant was crowned the winner of the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s Best Bermuda Fish Sandwich Competiton.

After two weeks of local voting, Rosa’s, Seaside Grill, Tribe Road Kitchen, Woody’s and Mama Angies prepared their sandwiches on Front Street while a crowd eagerly awaited the results.

A panel of three judges decided on a winner according to four categories — taste, presentation, value and local flair.

The judges were Teneika Eve, senior culinary arts lecturer at the Bermuda College, Tina Stevenson, publisher and editor of The Bermudian, and Dale Butler, the well-known king of fishcakes.

Before the winner was announced, The Royal Gazette asked the judges what they were looking for in the best fish sandwich.

“I’m looking for a traditional Bermudian fish sandwich which has to be respected which is either white bread, whole wheat bread or raisin bread. You cannot put on it any more than fish, lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce,” said Mr Butler.

Teneika Eve, said: “I guess I’m looking for a sandwich that is balanced.

“It’s tasty, it has a little bit of zing, a little bit of pepper, nice touch of sweet from the tartar sauce or maybe something slightly different and original as well.

“I’m looking for some great seasoning, very fresh fish and some interesting condiments. I’m open to something different, all wrapped up in some good bread,” added Ms Stevenson.

Lindsay Durham, Rosa’s manager, expressed her disbelief after her restaurant was announced as the winner.

“It feels great to have won,” she said.

“My boss entered us into the competition and I was like we can’t do fish sandwiches, but I did my family’s recipe and we won. It’s exciting.

“We hope this win helps to bring in more customers, the public has been very good with supporting us, we’ve been selling fish sandwiches out the door and we’re going to put it on our menu because it’s so good. Thank you to the public and to all the judges. We appreciate it.”