Gymkhana (pictured right) has been crowned the UK’s best restaurant in the National Restaurant Awards.
The Mayfair Indian from Karam and Jyotin Sethi (also behind Trishna) toppled Marlow gastropub The
Hand & Flowers from the top spot. It fell to fourth place, with last year’s number two restaurant The
Ledbury coming in third, and Isaac McHale’s crowdfunded Shoreditch restaurant The Clove Club in second
position.
Jason Atherton also made it into the top five with Pollen Street Social, while Social Eating House came in at 43 and Berners Tavern made it to 46.
London restaurants scooped three more places in the top 10: Hedone at seven, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at nine, and The Square at 10. The sixth place went to Kent gastropub The Sportsman, and Simon Rogan’s Cartmel classic L’Enclume made it to number eight.
Hot property Chiltern Firehouse, with Nuno Mendes at the helm, came in at 17. The award for ‘one to
watch’ went to James Lowe’s Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s, while the Diner’s Choice award went to Clapham’s The Dairy .
The awards are run by on-trade publication Restaurant Magazine, which also runs the World’s 50 Best Awards. The national
awards are decided for by a panel of 150 restaurateurs, chefs, food critics and journalists across 12 regions.
Published 1 July 2014.