Tapas restaurant La Barca – run by Milan and Cara Nikolic –was named Scotland’s Favourite Mediterranean restaurant in a ceremony at Glasgow’s The Thistle Hotel on Sunday, April 19.

It was the fourth annual Scottish Entertainment and Hospitality Awards gala final where the winners were announced in front of over 600 industry guests.

La Barca won in the same category at the 2014 awards.

Restaurateurs Cara and Milan said they were ‘still buzzing’ after taking 12 members of staff to the ceremony.

And already, Milan has been asked on to cook live on television – which he said was ‘very exciting’.

Cara told the Advertiser: “We had butterflies in our stomach and when they called out our name we all just screamed and leapt into the air.

“Milan bounded on stage and kissed every member of staff, we were so ecstatic.

“It’s quite daunting defending your title and we were up against four other tapas bars including La Tasca in Glasgow and Cafe Andaluz in Edinburgh so we are very proud to have won over some serious competition.” He said: “We are all still buzzing. To bring the trophy back to Helensburgh for the second year running is a fantastic achievement for us and the town.

“We want to say a massive thank you to everyone who voted for us to get us to the mystery judges stages, we couldn’t have done it without them.

“When the judges came we didn’t have a clue it was them until they revealed themselves at the end of the meal, so we really didn’t know until the night if we’d done it.” He added “I was asked on the back of this to do some cooking on telly which is a first for me. Its all very exciting.” Milan will appear live on The Riverside Show on STV Glasgow tonight (Thursday) at 7.30pm.

The Riverside Show starts at 7pm with the Tea for a Tenner slot at 7.30pm and is shown on STV Glasgow, Freeview 23, Sky 117 and Virgin Media 159 Four other Helensburgh and Lomond attractions and establishments were nominated.

Loch Lomond Shores was nominated for Best Marketing Team; Rosslea Hall House Hotel was nominated in two categories for Best Wedding Venue and Most Romantic Getaway; Jam Jar Kitchens were up for Best Newcomer; and Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre were nominated as Scotland’s Favourite Family Getaway.