Out Of The Frying Pan: Top 100 UK Restaurants 2014

As with every year, the 100 best restaurants in the UK gives me an opportunity to maintain some sort of freshness and relevance. Whilst massively out-of-date reviews are of little consequence to anyone, making sure we all know where's where to eat is actually pretty useful. At the end of June, the National Restaurant Awards were held, giving us a revised list of the hundred best places to eat in the UK. As usual, I have catalogued the capital's interests, complete with last year's positions.

The most impressive news for London is the reclaiming of the top spot, with Mayfair's Gymkhana storming in at number one after less than a year in operation. Karam Sethi has been winning over diners and critics with an authentic style of cooking which I can't wait to sample. Something of a shock but an exciting surprise nonetheless.

The Clove Club of Shoreditch continues its meteoric rise, sitting at number 2, whilst The Ledbury's position of third is testament to the hard work which has given the restaurant years at the top. Hedone rises into the top ten whilst The Square deservedly holds its place in the higher rankings. Restaurant Story in Bermondsey won the award for highest climber, moving up nearly 70 places.

Other notable runs up the list came from the Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, somewhere I had not realised as being such an appealing prospect, Koya of Soho which rose 30 places and Jose, shooting into the top 40. Goodman Mayfair may be at number 40 this year, but that's still a remarkable jump of 53 places. Conversely, there are significant drops for 10 Greek Street (42 places), La Petite Maison (40 places) and, most dramatically, Chez Bruce (49 places). Consistency expected at the highest level is unwavering.

The new entry count is encouraging too, with The Chiltern Firehouse cracking the top 20, The Dairy in Clapham the top 30 and Sushi Tetsu a rather disappointing 41. I say disappointing because there is a review of this place in the offing. And yes, it's superbly late as ever. Marcus Wareing's re-launch of his Berkeley Hotel outfit (as simply 'Marcus') sees the newly-appointed BBC MasterChef Professionals judge re-take a top 50 place.

Have a read, make a reservation, sample some of the UK's best. London might have a couple fewer restaurants in the top 100 than last year, but it's taken back the number one spot, shot a load of new places into the list and is still a great place to be eating food.

1 Gymkhana - New Entry

2 The Clove Club (5)

3 The Ledbury (2)

5 Pollen Street Social (3)

7 Hedone (14)

9 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (10)

10 The Square (8)

15 Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs (38)

17 Chiltern Firehouse - New Entry

21 Le Gavroche (19)

22 Koya (52)

24 The Dairy - New Entry