In the words of Delia Smith, ‘food is for eating, and good food is to be enjoyed’. When you’re browsing restaurant menus, it’s often hard to know which end of the spectrum you’ll be getting – but now the annual Estrella Damn National Restaurant Awards have taken the guess work out of the equation, by naming the 100 best restaurants in the UK.
Kiln, a tiny but much-loved Thai restaurant in Soho, London, took the title of National Restaurant of the Year for 2018, with more than half of the entries also situated in the capital.
However, awards were also given to restaurants as widespread as L’Enclume in Cumbria, Wreckfish in Liverpool and Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall, all of which made the top 20.
The results are based on the opinions of 150 chefs, restaurateurs and food writers who have voted for their favourite establishments over the last year – so you can view the top 100 as a list of recommendations from trusted experts who’ve dined across the length and breadth of the country.
MORE: This pub has been voted the best in Britain
And no matter where you live (or travel) in the UK, there’s always somewhere new and delicious to visit…
The 100 best restaurants in the UK
- Kiln, Soho
- Sabor, Mayfair
- A Wong, Victoria
- Core by Clare Smyth, Notting Hill
- L’Enclume, Cumbria
- Moor Hall, Lancashire
- Lyle’s, Shoreditch
- Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
- The Sportsman, Kent
- Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall
- Claude Bosi at Bibendum, Chelsea
- The Coach, Marlow
- Coombeshead Farm, Cornwall
- Brat, Shoreditch
- Padella, London Bridge
- The Quality Chop House, Clerkenwell
- The Ledbury, Notting Hill
- Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire
- Wreckfish, Liverpool
- The Black Swan at Oldstead
- The River Café, Hammersmith
- Indian Accent, Mayfair
- Paul Ainsworth at No 6, Padstow
- El Pastor, London Bridge
- Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxford
- Ondine, Edinburgh
- Casamia, Bristol
- Ynyshir, Powys
- Som Saa, Shoreditch
- House of Tides, Newcastle
- The Clove Club, Shoreditch
- The Fat Duck, Bray
- Chez Bruce, Wandsworth
- Elystan Street, Chelsea
- The Crown at Burchetts Green, Maidenhead
- Trinity, Clapham
- The Little Fish Market, Hove
- The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny
- Quo Vadis, Soho
- The Seahorse, Dartmouth
- Barrafina, Covent Garden
- Lorne, Victoria
- The Waterside Inn, Bray
- Brawn, Bethnal Green
- The Raby Hunt, Darlington
- Hispi, Didsbury
- Hoppers, Soho
- Midsummer House, Cambridge
- Noble Rot, Bloomsbury
- Gymkhana, Mayfair
- Nuala, Old Street
- Hedone, Chiswick
- Alchemilla, Nottingham
- Kricket, Soho
- Pollen St Social, Mayfair
- Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo
- Root, Bristol
- St John Bread & Wine, Shoreditch
- The Star Inn Harome, Yorkshire
- Farang, Highbury
- Holborn Dining Room, Holborn
- The Hand & Flowers, Marlow
- Wilson’s, Bristol
- 40 Maltby Street, London Bridge
- Black Axe Mangal, Islington
- Carter’s of Moseley, Birmingham
- The Palomar, Soho
- Smoking Goat, Shoreditch
- The Beehive, Berkshire
- The Hardwick, Abergavenny
- Timberyard, Edinburgh
- Xu, Chinatown
- The Dairy, Clapham
- Le Gavroche, Mayfair
- Paco Tapas, Bristol
- The Parkers Arms, Clitheroe
- Rambla, Soho
- Wine & Brine, County Armagh
- Frog by Adam Handling, Covent Garden
- Where The Light Gets In, Stockport
- Bonhams, Mayfair
- Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Edinburgh
- Fraiche, Oxton
- Restaurant Story, London Bridge
- Sardine, Hoxton
- The Ritz, Picadilly
- Kitchen Table, Fitzrovia
- Inver, Argyll & Bute
- Lima, Fitzrovia
- The Fordwich Arms, Canterbury
- Frenchie, Covent Garden
- The Elephant, Torquay
- Barbary, Covent Garden
- Neo Bistro, Mayfair
- Mark Greenaway, Edinburgh
- Morston Hall Hotel, Norfolk
- Northcote Manor, Langho
- Westerns Laundry, Highbury
- Perilla, Newington Green
- Ikoyi, Piccadilly
