UK's Top 100 Restaurants

The UK’s longest-serving three Michelin-starred restaurant is special-occasion dining par excellence, from the dreamy location on the banks of the River Thames to the cooking of chef Alain Roux, which flies the flag for French gastronomy.

Simon Rogan’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms is a destination in every sense. Make the journey to the southern tip of Cumbria and a thrilling tasting menu of Rogan’s farmed and foraged ingredients awaits.

Raymond Blanc’s legendary country-house hotel blends a quintessentially English manor setting with French-inspired cooking that puts lightness and freshness centre stage. The setting is especially magical in summer.

A former winner of SquareMeal’s UK Restaurant of the Year, Peter Sanchez-Iglesias’s Casamia has won national attention for Bristol’s burgeoning restaurant scene. Chefs emerge from the semi-open kitchen to serve an exciting tasting menu. 

Stephen Harris’ ‘grotty pub’ (his words) have made an unlikely site of pilgrimage for a windswept corner of the Kent marshes. The main attraction tasting menu needs booking in advance – but this isn’t somewhere you’d just drop in.  

“Words can’t describe how incredibly entertaining a trip to The Fat Duck is” – so writes a fan who was “made to feel like royalty” at Heston Blumenthal’s three-Michelin-starred wonderland. A must-do “experience of a lifetime”.

With stunning views all the way up the north Cornish coast, it’s only fitting that the county’s best restaurant should specialise in spanking fresh seafood fished straight out of the surrounding sea, from humble mackerel to luxury turbot. 

The first (and so far only) gastropub ever to win two Michelin stars, Tom Kerridge’s Hand and Flowers is somewhere that not only lives up to the hype but the anticipation of having to book a table a year in advance.  

This rising star of the UK restaurant scene combines the best bits of a country pub – including a riverside terrace – with food and wine curated by a chef and sommelier who used to work at London’s cutting-edge Clove Club.

Make the journey to the funny little building by Nottingham’s ring road and you’ll be blown away by chef Sat Bains’ tasting menu and be well and truly looked after by the friendly young staff.  

With a spa, beautiful gardens and pretty stone buildings, Whatley Manor offers the complete package for a relaxing getaway – though the icing on the cake is chef Niall Keating’s cooking in the Michelin-starred dining room.

Laurie and Jackie Gear’s Artichoke brings a dash of metropolitan elan to olde-worlde Old Amersham – though reasonable prices are reassuringly suburban. Stunning presentation is never at the expense of pitch-perfect flavours.

It might look the very image of a sedate country-house hotel – and Ynyshir is indeed relaxation exemplified – but there are fireworks on the plate thanks to the tasting menu of hot young chef Gareth Ward. Meat eaters are in for a treat.

The second Marlow gastropub from national treasure Tom Kerridge is a traditional British boozer (no bookings, beer on tap, sports TV) re-invented for the 21st century: breakfast hotdogs, chips with béarnaise sauce, wines by the glass.

“Everything is outstanding” says fans of chef Daniel Clifford’s restaurant by the river Cam. A refit has breathed new life into the conservatory-style dining room, where the summery look chimes perfectly with the views over the garden

Billed as a ‘smart country restaurant without formality’, The Woodspeen incorporates a pubby bar with Berkshire ales on tap, plus an airy conservatory-style extension with a sparkling open kitchen, vaulted ceilings and picture windows.

Like Brighton itself, 64 Degrees is edgy, hip, leftfield and idiosyncratic – a rockin’ modern eatery from veteran local chef Michael Bremner. Chefs wheel out the dishes as they’re ready from the open kitchen.

Chef Tommy Bank’s family have lived around Oldstead for generations so they know the best places for foraging the produce that ends up on the 12-course tasting menus in this re-imagined 16th-century pub with rooms.

Hrishikesh Desai’s Michelin-starred food at Hrishi has had it declared by some as ‘the best restaurant in the Lake District”. Seasonal British ingredients meet Asian flavours in a succession of clever riffs with exotic overtones.

A comfortable country house hotel on the edge of the Ribble Valley, Northcote has held a Michelin star for over two decades. Chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen has recently taken the reins from her mentor Nigel Haworth, and while the restaurant’s snow-white cloths and sparkling glassware still smack of traditional fine dining, the new menu is fresh and modern. Lancashire’s natural larder provides ample opportunity for seasonal, locally sourced ingredients to shine. Char-grilled asparagus was packed with flavour, served simply with creamy sheep’s curd and sharp wood-sorrel leaves, while deliciously sticky lamb breast came paired with a pillow of caramelised shallot purée. A photogenic dish of fat, sweet scarlet prawns with wild-garlic foam and beurre blanc sauce was a technically perfect rendition; we followed it with an earthy plate of succulent squab pigeon, its breast roasted on the bone and the confit leg accompanied by turnip and morels. Matched with note-perfect wines and friendly service, this is a treat of a tasting menu: light and playful, but with real confidence and skill on show. An inviting new chapter for this legendary Lancastrian heavyweight.

This Michelin star gastro pub is housed in a picturesque building in the heart of Cumbria. Despite feeling like a special iteration of your ‘local’ it serves up some pretty impressive classic comfort dishes with a high end twist.

Cornwall produces some of Britain’s finest ingredients, and Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 take these examples of the freshest local meat, fish and vegetables to create stunning plates of carefully-balanced flavours.

This restaurant and pub serves high-end food that doesn’t neglect its comfort-food foundations. In the back dining room of this Michelin star restaurant you get a good view of the chefs in action, thanks to the semi-open kitchen design. 

Run by acclaimed chef Tommy Banks, who also oversees Michelin star restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, Roots York focuses on provenance and seasonality. Whatever time of year you visit you’ll be treated to cooking that elevates British ingredients to the next level. 

Having appeared on the Great British Menu, Chef Adam Reid is passionate about using ingredients from the UK in quirky, innovative ways. This doesn’t mean flavour is sacrificed in favour of gimmicks though. 

Fusing British ingredients with robust French cooking techniques, this small countryside pub has gained a big reputation. Simon Bonwick runs the kitchen solo, turning out a daily menu that you can receive by txt before your visit.

This pretty seafood restaurant is set overlooking picturesque Port Isaac, and offers some incredible cooking in a relaxed and informal setting. The team work with local fishermen, whose catch dictates the ever-evolving menu.

This Michelin star restaurant in the centre of Leeds serves up experimental food by chef Micheal O’Hare. If you’re going to get a table at this Northern hot spot you’ll have to move fast, with tables booking out up to five months ahead.

This pretty Norfolk hotel set on the English coast draws people from all across the country to try its seven-course tasting menu. The dishes change daily, to reflect the seasons and availability of local ingredients.

Michelin starred pubs are potentially our favourite genre of restaurant, comfort food with a good dose of refinement. The Pony & Trap delivers to this brief extremely well, using homegrown ingredients to produce plates of sheer joy. 

With Chef Patron Richhard Bainbridge (of Great British Menu fame) at the helm, this charming bistro serves up food that elevates each ingredient to extraordinary heights. If you pay the team here a visit, don’t miss Nanny Bush’s trifle with milk ice cream.

This bright and buzzy seafood restaurant in Padstow gives Rick Stein a run for his money when it comes to the best shellfish in the area. Treat yourself to a platter of oysters with simple, well-thought through dressings.

Unusually chef Steven Edwards doesn’t use any spicing in his food, instead choosing to increase flavour through reducing or enhancing the main ingredients on each plate. His first restaurant, Etch., deals only in tasting menus.

This rural-retreat has become somewhat of a foodie mecca since chefs Tom Adams (of Pitt Cue fame) and April Bloomfield (who runs New York’s Michelin starred Spotted Pig restaurant) opened it. The team here value provenance above all else.

This countryside pub serves up bold, contemporary food while still somehow managing to retain a cosy and traditional pub atmosphere. Interiors are luxuriously decked-out with plush soft-furnishings and there are four bedrooms to stay in.

This seasoned seaside eatery has now held a Michelin star for over 14 years, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. A point of difference too, for a fine-dining restaurant, is that the team here welcome little ones.

Chef Matt Worswick turns out plates of Michelin-quality food at this Surrey-based hotel, presenting diners with elaborate tasting menus. There are choices of options between five and ten courses, and dishes use predominantly British ingredients.

Ondine’s chef Roy Brett studied under Rick Stein, and champions sustainably sourced seafood in his sleek Edinburgh restaurant. The dining room is a chic mix of metallics and monochromes, with a curved oyster bar taking centre stage.

Being the proud owner of Newcastle’s only Michelin star, House of Tides is a popular spot. Run by local chef Kenny Atkinson (of Great British Menu fame), this multi-faceted venue houses a pub, restaurant, pastry bar, private dining space and walk-in wine cellar.

Crowd funding king Gary Usher has worked wonders with this neighbourhood bistro, which serves up simple dishes using quality ingredients – think the likes of braised feather blade with a side of truffle and parmesan chips.

Serving vegetarian food with bags of flavour, Terre a Terre is proudly meat free. Expect delicious Asian-accented food, an imaginative wine list and an Asian take on afternoon tea, which includes a tapioca seaweed cracker.

Taking its name from the legendary 1984 novelist, Orwells serves dishes which allow high-quality ingredients to do the talking, packaged up as part of multi-course tasting menus and served alongside a carefully curated wine list.

This intimate Scandi-style Brighton restaurant serves a signature seven-course tasting menu, which is replete with “genuinely local”, hyper-seasonal food. Dishes you might come across include the likes of celeriac dressed with egg yolk and apple.

Surrounded by green fields and boasting its own gorgeous garden, this escape from London is right by Gatwick airport. Seasonally-changing menus are served alongside a set lunch menu, hearty Sunday roasts and traditional afternoon tea.

Open for two decades, The Harrow gained a Michelin star in 2006 and has managed to keep it ever since. It’s easy to see why with dishes such as Welsh beef carpaccio with mango chutney.

A cool and modern dining room is matched with an accomplished menu which champions seasonal and local ingredients at Tom Kitchin’s highly-regarded Michelin gaff. A whisky snug and a temperature-controlled wine cellar are further draws.

Hyper-seasonal cooking is the name of the game at Lake Road Kitchen. Served in a pared-back dining room, you’ll enjoy the likes of meaty snails dressed with a green miso made in-house from peas and beans.

Following the closure of his eponymous restaurant in the New Town, celebrated chef Mark Greenaway has moved into the ground-floor atrium of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, taking over the space which previously housed the Galvin brothers’ Brasserie de Luxe. Though the name might imply dainty sharing plates, Grazing offers hearty dishes in relaxed surroundings.

Adding weight to the argument that good things come in small packages, this tiny restaurant seats just 20 diners and serves terrific seafood, found in the form of a constantly changing fixed-price tasting menu.

Found in Lancashire (and surrounded by gorgeous scenery), Parkers Arms takes provenance seriously, making all of its breads, ice creams and the like on-site. This commitment to sourcing is best seen through the delicious hand-raised pies.

Set in a Victorian mansion surrounded by 40 acres of land, Forest Side’s menu is a love letter to seasonality, with dishes you may come across on the six-course tasting menu including lamb sweetbreads with pine mayonnaise.

Edinburgh’s Timberyard is a popular spot in the city and for good reason. Several of the dishes arrive adorned with flowers from the restaurant’s own garden, while fun floral cocktails are worth sticking around for post-dinner.

At Stovell’s, modern European dishes are given Mexican accents. This blend of cuisines works wonders when it comes to the likes of white mole with wood-roasted carrots. Plump for the tasting menu if it's within budget.

This Grade II-listed vicarage has an impressive culinary history, and now plays host to chef Tom Clarke. The only Reading restaurant to boast a Michelin star, L’Ortolan serves a surprise 10-course ‘Discovery’ menu.

Two Michelin stars set this restaurant with rooms apart from its fellows in the northeast. Housed in a contemporary space, guests are served up a 15- or 17-course tasting menu of cutting edge British dishes. 

The jewel in the crown of Rick Stein’s impressive restaurant portfolio opened 40 years ago and is still going strong. An enviable location and the freshest seafood around are surely the secrets to its success.

Valiantly continuing on after the untimely passing of its eponymous chef, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie is still wowing diners. The fabulous Gleneagles complex is the perfect backdrop for a precise and highly-assured menu of modern European fare.

The Walnut Tree’s glorious location in the foothills of the Black Mountains is matched by an equally as exciting menu, which features the likes of lobster omelette and Cornish sole with shrimps and brown butter sauce.

Within easy enough reach of London for a day trip, this Dorking town centre restaurant is a tribute to modern fine dining, with contemporary interiors, a bang-up-to-date wine list and a menu that updates the classic. 

An unassuming family-run establishment, The Whitehouse boasts simple interiors which are juxtaposed with exceptional cooking from the kitchen. The team grow their own veg and bake their own bread, so expect only the freshest of ingredients.

Situated on the banks of the River Dart overlooking the water, Mitch Tonks’ popular seafood stalwart is as warm and friendly as a bedded-in eatery on an Italian backstreet.

It’s opulence all the way at this stunning Palladian mansion, where long-serving chef Hywel Jones and his team of superb chefs have been delivering intricate, Michelin-level food for fifteen years.

Wonderfully remote and gently idiosyncratic, this relaxed pub is committed to serving generous portions of high quality fresh Welsh produce with zero pomp, and very good value guaranteed.

A blend of food, wine, cocktails and contemporary art, Roth Bar & Grill is committed to using sustainable and seasonal produce from its own farm and kitchen garden to create quality dishes and innovative drinks.

With Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall at the helm, diners can look forward to exceptional British food in picturesque surrounds at the UK’s original gastropub.

Celebrated for its mix of classy informality and award-winning food, Brummie chef Brad Carter’s mission is to make great British ingredients – particularly wild foraged flora and fauna – come alive in simple yet refined dishes.

A worth-the-trip-from-London newcomer, this 19th-century former oxen house on the Southrop Manor Estate farm specialises in plant-inspired, farm-based dishes that are as beautiful as the restaurant’s surrounding countryside.

Set in the magnificent Bolton Abbey estate, this historic former inn-turned-luxe-hotel delivers fine dining with ease. Locally-sourced produce is paramount for award-winning head chef Paul Leonard and makes for beautiful food.

Styled like a French château, complete with superbly landscaped grounds, terraced gardens and magnificent antique-filled interiors, Hambleton Hall is also the proud owner of the longest retained Michelin Star in the UK.

Housed in a former sandwich shop in Birmingham’s commercial district, Adam Stokes’ eponymous restaurant is an experience worth paying for. Here you’ll enjoy meticulously-prepared, seasonal food in friendly and comfortable surroundings.

Located in the stunning Lantern Room of the former Victorian Home for Destitute Children, this award-winning restaurant led by chef patron Paul Askew champions seasonal ingredients to ensure each dish tastes as good as it looks.

Owned by not one, but two ex-head chefs from Mayfair’s celebrated Michelin-starred Gymkhana, this Epsom Indian joint is a diamond in the rough. Hailed as ‘phenomenal’ by celebrated chef Angela Hartnett, it’s worth the journey.

Low-key but impressive, Gary Usher’s third crowd-funded addition to his northern empire is known for its homely surrounds and on point food. Simple, tasty bistro fare keeps locals and visitors to Didsbury happy and satisfied.

One-time Michelin-starred chef patron Alex Aitken runs a tight ship at this sleek seafood restaurant overlooking the harbour. Expect flawless, flavour-driven dishes and knock-out views.

Situated on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, The Star Inn at Harome boasts outstanding Michelin-starred food made from locally-sourced seasonal produce, and hospitality that radiates from its very timbers.

The perfect remedy to indecision and food envy, Menu Gordon Jones offers a blind tasting menu full of contrasting tastes, textures and temperatures, and a wine flight made up solely of organic and biodynamic wines.

Tucked away in a Victorian walled garden, this restaurant in Somerset takes the enthusiasm for artisan food and local produce to a different level. From start to sweet end, fresh produce grown on site takes centre stage.

Crabs, lobsters (cold or grilled) and oysters au natural are this popular seafood specialist’s trademark, but there’s plenty more on the menu. Located in Glasgow’s funky Finnieston district, Crabshakk has been wowing diners for a decade.

Overlooking Brighton’s seafront and iconic West Pier ruins, this sibling of meat-tastic The Coal Shed is a star in its own right, with a menu that majors in locally-sourced seafood and meat roasted over coal.

Warm and inviting, this neighbourhood bistro in charming Deal serves up some of the best Gallic grub in town. Majoring in fish and seafood from the nearby coast, it’s worth a day trip from London to visit.  

Chef George Livesey’s culinary CV reads like a Who’s Who of the UK restaurant scene, and all that experience is paying off handsomely at Bulrush – the Bristol gaff he runs with wine-savvy partner Katherine Craughwell. Together, they’re an “enthusiastic and skilled couple” who have turned these premises into a genuine neighbourhood restaurant with a “relaxed but very professional” outlook. Meanwhile, George’s kitchen delivers “amazing food at unassuming prices” with seasonal favours and foraged pickings figuring prominently on the menu, and lots of perky, imaginative ideas executed with real élan: BBQ broccoli with smoked junket and preserved lemon sets the tone, while mains might include Speckle-faced lamb with Jersey royals, artichoke and wild leeks. Fish from the West Country boats could yield turbot with tulip (yes!), radish, green tea and crab, while desserts have included pumpkin-seed ice cream as well as barley grass parfait with wild strawberries and saké. Katherine’s drinks list covers everything from local beers, cider and cocktails to a decent showing of biodynamic wines.

“Beef to die for” is the big selling point at this Brighton offshoot of The Coal Shed in London. This place takes its protein seriously, with slabs of locally sourced fillet, rib-eye and rump sizzling on the kitchen's Josper grill and a blackboard listing different breeds, cuts and weights, all served with a choice of sauces (try the mushroom and bone marrow version). Black Angus burgers and spiced rack of lamb with yoghurt, zhug and chickpeas maintain the ‘turf’ theme, but there's also plenty to keep ‘surf’ fans happy – from kombu-cured monkfish to cod with mussels, clams, white beans and monk’s beard. Finish with tongue-scorching mini-doughnuts dunked in molten chocolate. The “busy” vibe and hard-edged, macho interior (stripped floorboards and industrial pendant lamps) feel right for the food, although it can result in a deafening din at peak times. Sensible prices, “amazing cocktails” and a drinker-friendly wine list with plenty by the glass or carafe are additional plus points. “Worth every penny”, chimes one fan.

Famed as “the best restaurant in Surrey by miles”, The Clock House in Ripley (with head chef Fred Clapperton at the helm) occupies an imposing Georgian building that has been jazzed up with contemporary flounce and clean, modern lines. The dining room’s classic, yet contemporary look is unchanged, while the food revolves around a choice of menus and high-end combos that are all focused intensely on flavour.  

Chef Liam Dillon's smart-casual restaurant brings à la carte, tasting, set menus and proper Sunday roasts to a waterside spot by the Lichfield canal. 

A simple modern makeover has freshened up this unassuming, timber-clad, shop-fronted restaurant, which now mixes charming old beams & floorboards with fashionable high-backed dining chairs & white-clothed tables. Booking is essential, but one of the joys of this small-scale operation is its telling mix of unstuffy, friendliness & highly accomplished food. Tim Johnson has worked with the likes of Nico Ladenis & Andrew McLeish (Chapter One, Locksbottom) & his cooking adheres to a classic French blueprint. Simplicity is the key to his refined, unfussy style, with tip-top local & seasonal produce defining his credit crunch-friendly, fixed-price menus – witness dishes such as roast John Dory fillet partnered by Nicola potatoes, oven-roast tomatoes & baby spinach, or classic tarte tatin accompanied by a green apple sorbet & cider cream.
 

David and Rona Pitchford’s covetable Georgian manor house on the outskirts of Faversham is the very model of an unpretentious country restaurant-with-rooms, combining a “gorgeous setting” with personable service overseen by the hosts themselves. Inside, all is cosily domestic, although the refreshingly restrained menu suggests serious culinary intent (despite some determinedly old-fashioned touches and a sprinkling of food-related literary quips). For more than three decades David has honed his own version of Anglo-French cooking, relying on top-drawer ingredients and well-tutored expertise to deliver the goods. The seasons matter here, with pickings from the manor's own walled garden, local game and fish from south-coast boats deployed in harmonious ways. Examples of his “beautiful fresh local food” might include ‘fruit-fed’ loin of pork with spinach, pickled Russet apple and pork jus as well as roast breast of pheasant with spiced red cabbage, blackberry purée and celeriac, but the repertoire also accommodates more eclectic ideas – crispy crumbed king prawns with smoked paprika and lime aïoli and compressed watermelon, for example. To conclude, try the famed deep lemon tart or the hot blackberry soufflé. Impressive wines too.

A break form the country-house hotel norm, Milsoms is an emphatically a “casual concept” complete with an “ample” outdoor space, an invitingly buzzy dining room, big comfortable leather chairs and a laid-back DIY ordering system; there’s ‘no need to book a table’ either, say the owners. Milsoms doesn’t take itself too seriously, which adds to its charm. On its website, it proclaims how it aims to be the sort of place where people can where whatever they feel comfortable in when visiting; “you won’t look out of place in shorts and sandals or a shirt and tie.”   

Once home to Victorian writer and satirist William Makepeace Thackeray, this “Tunbridge Wells institution” makes an immediate impact on arrival with its all-white, New England exterior that makes it feel like a fairy tale cottage.

Leading with seafood, the menu at The Lighthouse has kept locals and visitors coming back since the late 1990s. Head here to enjoy the likes of pan-fried scallops or classic beer-battered fish & chips.

Locals love this dinky gem of a restaurant for its authentic Italian small plates, expertly-mixed drinks and buzzy atmosphere. The U-shaped counter seats but 20, so you’ll need to book in advance to secure your seat.

Once a coaching inn, this French family-run restaurant boasts excellent food and wine, and pretty riverside vistas to boot. Here you’ll find luxury on a plate with the likes of lobster thermidor, foie gras terrine, and spit-roasted duck.

Chirpy service, quirky décor and all the quality one would expect from Heston Blumenthal, minus the bells and whistles of The Fat Duck. A carefully curated seasonal menu and distinct pubby feel make it a must for gastronomes.

Having succeeded at a successful restaurant in Marylebone, running a cook school and writing a few cookbooks, husband and wife team Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi also somehow managed to open this small Tuscan restaurant in the English countryside.

This SquareMeal gold-awarded restaurant sits in the luxurious surroundings of its encompassing country house hotel. Choose between an a la carte offering and a seven-course tasting menu, or skip a main meal altogether and plump for a posh afternoon tea. 

This Glasgow institution was taken over by infamous seafood chefs The Two Fat Ladies in 2007 and has pulled the punters ever since with its fuss-free menu. Expect perfectly cooked Scottish seafood, like Shetland halibut or West Coast scallops.

Set among pine forests and trickling brooks, this long-time gastronomic beacon on the edge of the bucolic Wye Valley now serves a real taste of its surroundings. Mixing delicate French technique with super-premium Welsh produce, Raymond Blanc protégé Chris Harrod currently employs a full-time forager to provide pickings for his kitchen. These wild things now form a vital component for his distinctive cooking: Wye Valley asparagus might be paired with ‘hedgerow pickings’, maritime pine and Tintern mead, while Orkney scallops are garlanded with pickled alexanders, roast chicken skin and nasturtium. Elsewhere, ground elder pops up in a dish of day-boat turbot, while wild chervil and bittercress are the chosen feral companions for a plate of squab pigeon and forced rhubarb. Desserts also get the treatment, as in a combo of blackcurrant, camomile and sage. Readers “love” the tasting menu, the set lunch is bargain and warm courteous service is a given – whatever the occasion. There’s also an impressive wine list to peruse (including some local Welsh names), or you can try Chris’s own pine-infused gin – perfect if you’re staying over.

Smart, classy and alluring, The Peat Inn does tweed curtains, low beams and log fires better than just about anyone. Indeed, it’s become an iconic Scottish destination, beloved by its many admirers and a source of delight for newcomers who stumble upon the place