Sunday 26 July 2015

Top 100 UK Restaurants 2015 - London

The National Restaurant Awards were held at the end of June and as one of the few remaining standards here, below is a summary of the London portion of the list. London has always had a fairly transient restaurant scene but the 23 new entries make for some fairly surprising reading. The highest of these is a bit of a bolter, with the Hart brothers' new Barrafina venture in Covent Garden taking the crown less than a year after opening. Last year's new entry number one, Gymkhana, moves down to fourth place overall.

The Ledbury maintains its excellent record amongst the country's elite, with notable climbs also for The Dairy, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Restaurant Story and 40 Maltby Street. Conversely, significant falls occur elsewhere for Dinner by Heston BlumenthalLe GavrocheQuo Vadis, Chiltern Firehouse, Marcus and most notably, Pollen Street Social and St John.

As well as the big new entry at number one, the rest of the list sees other significant fresh venues as well as re-entries. Lyle's in Shoreditch proves the latest trend of down-scaled, simplified British food still remains, with local neighbour The Typing Room further down the list for the first time. Mayfair is all of a sudden an exciting place to eat again, with Kitty Fisher's, Fera and Scott's all present. The Middle East is also well-represented this year, with the Kings Cross branch of Dishoom, Honey & Co and The Palomar adding a little variation to the list.

Once again, over half the best places to eat remain in London; if you believe this list. Even though the overall number is a little lower than last year, the fact that we have such variety, excitement and change in London is only ever a good thing. Restaurants have to adapt and keep customers interested and, as ever, there are a huge array of places to eat, enjoy and celebrate.

4 Gymkhana (1)
6 Lyle's - New Entry
9 The Dairy (24)
12 Hedone (7)
15 The Palomar - New Entry
16 Kitty Fisher's - New Entry
17 Fera at Claridge's - New Entry
21 Dishoom King's Cross - New Entry
23 A Wong - New Entry
26 Zucca - New Entry
33 The Square (10)
35 Pizarro - New Entry
39 Hibiscus (25)
40 Honey & Co - New Entry
43 Grain Store (28)
44 Le Gavroche (21)
48 Wild Honey - New Entry
49 Scott's - New Entry
50 Sushi Tetsu (41)
58 Pitt Cue (70)
59 Quo Vadis (35)
60 Lardo - New Entry
64 Yauatcha - New Entry
70 Duck & Waffle - New Entry
71 The Typing Room - New Entry
74 Brawn - New Entry
76 Koffmann's (64)
78 Marcus (49)
82 Murano - New Entry
83 Otto's - New Entry
85 Hakkasan Mayfair - New Entry
89 MEATLiquor (80)
95 Little Social - New Entry
97 Antidote - New Entry
100 St John (34)