The 21 winners of the first annual What's On Restaurant Awards will be announced at a gala dinner tonight on the lawns of Dubai Internet City.

The awards ceremony is the climax of a three-month voting period followed by intensive vote verification by independent arbitrators, Jacobsons Direct.

From December 15 until February 28, diners in 250 outlets were invited to vote for their favourite restaurant in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Akram Raffoul, Managing Director of Jacobsons Direct, commented: "We worked closely with the What's On staff to create a voting form that was straightforward to complete and in line with the nature of these people's choice awards.