Out Of The Frying Pan: Top 100 UK Restaurants 2012

A little later than usual (why break the habit of a blogging lifetime?), I've got my hands on the London venues featured in the National Restaurant Awards' top 100 UK restaurants for 2012. It seems London grows ever more prominent in the country's top 100, with 59 in this year's list. For the third year in a row, The Ledbury holds on to its top spot; a remarkable feat.

The notable entries begin with Quo Vadis, which is now astonishingly one of the ten best places to eat in the UK. The second outing I had there last year was nothing to write home about and I was surprised to see it so high. 10 Greek Street is the highest new London entry, with much buzz being generated around its modern, simple menus.

Elsewhere there is a general slide outside of the top 10, where Pollen Street Social and The Square maintained their high rankings. The excellent Polpo falls over 60 places, with a similar decline for Koffman's. Most other restaurants experience a slide of a few places here and there, with Texture and Koya two of the biggest climbers.

Other unsurprising new entries are Dabbous and Medlar who have both earned their first Michelin Stars to top off a fantastic year. Alyn Williams takes the highest new entry for London outside of 10 Greek Street to go along with the award of a first star also. José Pizarro endured an interesting year, with his tapas bar José dropping out of the list completely but his restaurant Pizarro shooting in at 28.

Once again, the moral of the story is that London really is the place to be when it comes to eating out in the UK. There are so many amazing restaurants that aren't on this list, but it's usually a good barometer of how a restaurant is faring. With over half the best restaurants in the UK, London is doing very well indeed.

1 The Ledbury

2 Pollen Street Social

7 The Square

9 Quo Vadis

10 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

12 10 Greek Street

14 Zuma

15 Alyn Williams

18 Galvin La Chapelle

21 Roganic

22 St John

23 Bocca Di Lupo