Map guide: restaurants
18 Sept 2019
The small and unassuming front of 1251 is easily missed if you’re walking up Islington’s Upper Street, but don’t pass up the chance to eat at James Cochran’s inventive, exciting solo venture.
This small, twenty-seater restaurant in the heart of Brighton is responsible for helping to kick-start the city's culinary renaissance, serving up dishes of fun, tasty and vibrant food seven days a week.
On an unassuming road near Victoria Underground Station, this Chinese restaurant takes diners on a whistle-stop tour of China’s greatest gastronomic regions.
After winning acclaim with his two year pop-up, Adam Stokes' new, permanent restaurant bolsters Birmingham's reputation as a fine-dining destination. The Michelin-starred dishes are full of flavour, presented in an imaginative way and make any occasion feel special.
With visionary chef Alex Bond at the helm, Alchemilla has fast become one of the most progressive and exciting restaurants in the country, serving unique tasting menus that reinvigorate the idea of veg-first cooking.
Perched on the eighth floor of Moorgate’s South Place Hotel, Angler offers stunning views over the City of London with gorgeous fish and seafood dishes to match. In Gary Foulkes, the restaurant has found a chef with a distinctive style, as he expertly merges classical French, European and Asian flavours.
The restaurant features a number of dining rooms, including one for 16 which allows views into the kitchen and a ‘garden room’ which provides guests with a view of the ‘living wall’ of herbs, which are used in the kitchen.
In the basement beneath the Provençal gastronomic paradise of Cigalon is Baranis, a chic bar that brings a laidback 1960s “sud de France” atmosphere to hectic Holborn.
This authentic tapas restaurant – along with its two other sites in London – is where you'll find some of the best Spanish food in the UK.
The fourth Barrafina follows a tried-and-tested template – long marble counters, open kitchens and slick service – but executive chef Angel Zapata Martin brings a distinct Catalonian flair to the menu at the King’s Cross outpost.
This accomplished bistro is the leading light of Norwich's dining scene, serving unfussy seasonal British food in relaxed surroundings. Chef-owner Richard Bainbridge puts the produce of the county front and centre, combining playful creativeness with nostalgic flavours.
Richard Corrigan and his team have reinvigorated this famed old eatery with exciting results, providing Mayfair with a restaurant that is as prized as the oysters found on its menu.
Many of the UK’s greatest chefs learnt their craft in the kitchens of Bibendum. Now, with the legendary Claude Bosi at the helm, it has returned to its rightful place at the forefront of London’s dining scene.
When Adam Byatt opened Trinity in Clapham, he brought a new level of class to the southwest London suburb. The gifted chef’s new venture, Bistro Union, is a more relaxed affair, a family-friendly neighbourhood restaurant – albeit one with an impressive pedigree.
Bryn Williams’ career has gone from strength to strength since his appearance on Great British Menu in 2006. At Porth Eirias, he brings his considerable restaurant experience to Colwyn Bay, North Wales.
As far as modern fine dining restaurants go, Chapter One is a touch out of the ordinary – being neither a voguish urban townhouse nor a rustic country retreat. In truth, its location on a busy road connecting the Kentish towns of Bromley and Orpington is rather inauspicious. But rest assured, the food is anything but.
The lauded restaurant at Brown’s hotel is now under the watchful eye of Adam Byatt, whose superlative command of British cookery is a perfect fit for this estimable Mayfair institution.
For all the pomp, razzmatazz and tabloid fervour that - for better or for worse - Chiltern Firehouse attracts, it should not be forgotten that as an eatery it has serious credentials.
One of chef-patron Pascal Aussignac’s London-based French restaurants, Cigalon effortlessly charms the senses and the stomach by evoking the sounds, smells and flavours of Provence.
Still going strong since it opened in 1998, Club Gascon is a restaurant unashamedly in love with the delectable, moreish flavours of southwest France.
This outpost of the Gascon empire prides itself on providing rustic food from the south-West of France – in its bistro and, for those who wish to recreate the experience at home, its deli – to a discerning City crowd.
After years spent running the kitchen at Nathan Outlaw’s Michelin-starred Capital Hotel outpost in London, Tom Brown is striking out on his own with his debut restaurant – Cornerstone.
Boasting a menu promising to 'redefine quintessential British cuisine', an ample wine list and an interior redolent of a German hunting lodge, Corrigan's Mayfair well and truly lives up to the name above its doors.
This New York-inspired oyster bar, grill and bakery is the latest venture from culinary mega-duo Robin Gill and Dean Parker.
From the top floor of Kingly Court in Soho, Asma Khan delivers an authentic taste of India. Recreating the royal Bengali and Rajput dishes of her upbringing, she also offers a platform to support women in food.
After seventeen years of working at a two-Michelin-starred level, Phil Howard left The Square to open Elystan Street, a place where the highest quality cooking is presented in relaxed, welcoming surroundings.
Scott Smith’s Scandi-inspired restaurant is a very welcome addition to Edinburgh’s burgeoning culinary reputation. Fhior offers a modern take on Scottish food, with Scottish produce taking centre stage.
With gorgeous views of the Thames and a sprawling open terrace, Fiume is a true slice of the Mediterranean in Battersea. Where better to enjoy Francesco Mazzei’s comforting southern Italian food?
Adam Handling's flagship restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden seamlessly combines flavour, theatrics and invention on every plate, with a curated menu that reflects the personalities of the kitchen team.
What do you do if you can’t find a unique space for your restaurant on the crowded streets of London? Look up. Galvin at Windows follows a recent trend for sky-scraping venues – and, as you’d expect from a venue which is named thus, it offers plenty of spectacular sights.
Not content with their dominance in London, Chris and Jeff Galvin have spread their wings beyond the capital with Galvin Green Man, returning home to the beautiful Essex countryside they grew up in.
Awe-inspiring Victorian interiors, elegant French cuisine and understated service are what earned this unique city restaurant its Michelin star, under the direction of acclaimed chef brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin.
Short for Great British Restaurant, GBR is housed in the luxury Dukes London hotel and specialises in classic British food, courtesy of talented chef Nigel Mendham.
Surrounded by coppiced woodland, the drive into Gravetye Manor can feel a little off-piste. But overgrowth makes way for opulence once the tyres meet gravel.
The luxurious setting of Hambleton Hall is a fitting location for Michelin-starred chef Aaron Patterson and his sophisticated, modern British cooking. For over twenty years he has maintained the high levels of consistency that delivered the hotel its first star in 1982.
Hartnett Holder & Co, the restaurant at Lime Wood – a luxurious boutique hotel in the New Forest with a bohemian vibe – is a culinary breath of fresh air compared to conventional country house eateries.
French food still commands more respect and reverance than any other cuisine in the world, and at Hélène Darroze's eponymous two-starred restaurant at Mayfair's luxurious The Connaught Hotel, diners can experience truly breathtaking examples of the country's southwestern cookery combined with plenty of international influences in one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the capital.
After stumbling upon an old pub in Slaugham, Matt Gillan took to Kickstarter to raise funds to renovate the rundown site. The result is Heritage – a beautiful restaurant with rooms in the heart of the verdant Sussex countryside.
Set across three floors, this beautiful and ambitious building overlooking London’s Green Park actually houses two separate restaurants and a bar, with both all-day dining and elaborate tasting menus on offer.
Undoubtedly one of London’s most exciting restaurants, Ikoyi’s dynamic, West African-inspired menu creates food for thought, offering intelligent, precise and unique cooking in the heart of the city.
The third restaurant from acclaimed Spanish chef José Pizarro, his Broadgate venue elegantly pairs his flair for flavour with a focus on simplicity and quality. Although in the heart of London, José Pizarro provides an authentic tapas bar and restaurant experience amidst the rush of city life.
Peter Joseph’s solo venture offers well-balanced Indian dishes that take inspiration from the sights and smells of his hometown of Chennai, combining them with top-quality produce from his new home in Britain.
This sophisticated neighbourhood restaurant has held a Michelin star for seven years under the leadership of head chef Mark Kempson and ownership of Phil Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas, serving modern British food with classical French undertones.
Shuko Oda’s cherished Soho institution has been serving steaming bowls of dashi and piles of thick, bouncy udon noodles to hungry Londoners for over a decade.
In a charming townhouse in the centre of Chelsea, Rohit Ghai's Indian restaurant Kutir takes classic and traditional dishes from the country and reinvents them as refined, beautiful and flavour-packed plates of food.
Simon Rogan's L’Enclume continues to evolve, and the brilliance and adventure of the food at this Lake District restaurant is now world-renowned.
Le Bar, Club Gascon’s lively little sister, is where you'll find London's best cocktails, wines and 'frapas' (French tapas) inspired by the flavours of southwest France.
Le Champignon Sauvage may have become something of a culinary institution thanks to the imaginative cooking of its chef owner David Everitt-Matthias, but the atmosphere and tone of the restaurant remain refreshingly laid-back.
Josh Overington’s restaurant in the heart of York is one for adventurous diners – those ready to tackle a blind tasting menu will find some of the most exciting Modern French cooking in the country.
Jewel in the crown of the Blanc enterprise, restaurant, hotel, cookery school and TV location - Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, colloquially abbreviated to Le Manoir, is a picturesquely-located paradise in Oxfordshire and one of the country’s most renowned restaurants.
This country house hotel and restaurant is chef Michael Caines’ masterpiece, serving world-class food with views of the stunning Exe Estuary.
Few will require an introduction to the eponymous chef at the helm at The Berkeley. He’s one of the country’s most revered professionals, who has long stamped out a reputation for near-perfection.
Building on Mark Jordan’s resounding success at The Ocean, one of only a handful of Michelin-starred restaurants on Jersey, Mark Jordan at the Beach presents diners with a less formal option for dinner, the kind of place where no one would look at you too strangely if you came in with a little sand in your hair from windsurfing.
This second venture from Martin Wishart is every bit as sophisticated as his central Leith venue, with an added air of country-house glamour.
Situated in a smart city villa in Cambridge, with an intimate and classically decked-out dining room, Midsummer House provides a corner of seclusion among the teeming cloisters.
Going one step further than the standard ‘restaurant with rooms’ function, Morston Hall – a hotel and eatery located in a refined and pleasant 18th century manor house – offers its guests a number of options for entertainment and diversion when they arrive.
Michael Bremner's second restaurant looks out over Brighton's seafront, offering a very relaxed and casual setting that's perfect for family-friendly eating.
Tom Aikens' exciting return to the world of fine dining comes in the form of Muse, an elegant, intimate restaurant in the heart of London's Belgravia.
Since opening in 1983 and being placed under the dual management of proprietor Craig Bancroft and chef Nigel Haworth, Northcote, or Northcote Manor as it is sometimes known, has grown into one of most prestigious restaurants in the UK, serving honest British cuisine with passion and integrity.
While some diners will come for the views, with the talented Marcus Eaves in the kitchen, the food at skyscraping restaurant Oblix will be the reason they return.
Thanks to the island’s clement location, terrain and – in no small part – the efforts of the producers and growers who live and work there, Jersey has become synonymous with some of the best raw materials for cookery in the UK. Its status as a destination and coastline also earmark it as a luxurious and restorative place to take a break.
Chef Stephen Crane gives classic British dishes a European touch, producing luxurious food at Ockenden Manor
A neighbourhood restaurant for the residents of Primrose Hill, Odette’s has been around since the 1970s. But it wasn’t until Bryn Williams took over that it became somewhere worth talking about.
Selin Kiazim is pushing the boundaries of Turkish food at Oklava, drawing on her Turkish Cypriot heritage and an adventurous palate to deliver perfectly balanced plates with smart modern touches.
Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen is Nathan Outlaw’s second restaurant in beautiful Port Isaac, and has already earned a Michelin star for its delicious small seafood plates, served in a rustic fifteenth century seaside cottage.
It is easy to see what Executive Chef and owner Phil Fanning means when he describes Paris House as ‘an emotionally powerful property’: the grounds are prim, the roaming deer are gargantuan, and the architecture is tethered to a bygone age.
With Padstow becoming another one of the UK’s most-visited destinations for food lovers, Number 6 has carved out a niche as a friendly place which makes full use of the wealth of great local ingredients.
This labyrinthine mainstay of Soho's dining scene changes its menu daily, serving simple British food absolutely bursting with incredible flavour.
Francesco Mazzei’s latest venture sees relaxed southern Italian food on offer opposite the Almeida Theatre in Islington.
Having come through the ranks under Marco Pierre White, with ringing endorsements from the man himself, it’s not surprising that Martin Wishart’s name on this charming harbour-side Leith eatery brings the crowds in.
In an industrial estate just outside Nottingham under pylons and a flyover lies this incredible temple to gastronomic brilliance, where head chef Sat Bains cooks contemporary tasting menus using the best of local produce.
Round the corner from Simon Rogan’s two-starred flagship L’Enclume, Rogan & Co is a relaxed neighbourhood restaurant making the most of Lake District produce.
Talented Bristolian chef Josh Eggleton has reformed his Chicken Shed restaurant in Bristol’s historic harbourside, deciding instead to give vegetables star billing at Root.
Tommy Banks’ second restaurant opened in the heart of York in 2018, serving small plates of his beloved ingredients from the family farm in airy, relaxed surroundings.
After an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, Paul Foster opened his first restaurant Salt in the beautiful town of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Returning to his Somerset roots with the opening of The Pony and Trap in 2006, Salt & Malt is chef Josh Eggleton's take on the beloved classic fish and chips.
Francesco Mazzei couldn’t stay out of the kitchen long. After leaving his acclaimed restaurant L’Anima in 2015 and releasing his book Recipes from Southern Italy that same year, Francesco has now found a new home to showcase his sumptuous Italian cooking.
Scran & Scallie is the latest collaboration between Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack – the charming neighbourhood pub serves unpretentious, home-cooked food.
Just away from the bustle and dripping with elegance, the St James Hotel is the perfect home for William Drabble's distinguished preparations.
Simpsons sits at the forefront of a thriving Midlands restaurant scene and in its kitchen can be found two of the region’s most distinguished chefs.
This Italian restaurant in Clapham combines the beautiful dishes of the Amalfi Coast with Robin Gill's unmistakable style of cooking.
Steve Drake returns to the restaurant scene at Sorrel, where he offers uniquely creative, seasonal British food from a beautiful listed building in the heart of Dorking.
St John started life as an anomaly – a strange, whitewashed restaurant on the wild outskirts of London. Today it is a monument to British food and to Fergus Henderson, the chef that championed sustainable nose-to-tail eating and inspired a generation.
The Angel at Hetton is the oldest gastropub in Britain, with a history that harks back to the fifteenth century. This north Yorkshire institution is now under the able leadership of Michael Wignall, who has restored it to its former glory, winning a Michelin star after just a year.
Having worked at some of the UK’s top culinary institutions (The Hind’s Head and Fat Duck to name two), and putting his stamp on The Royal Oak after eight years as Head Chef, Dominic Chapman finally has a place to call his own.
Tucked away in the beautiful North York Moors, The Black Swan is everything you could want in a cosy countryside inn. And with Tommy Banks creating his stunning Michelin-starred tasting menus for those who make the trip, it’s one of the most forward-thinking meals you can have in the UK.
Not many bakeries can say they have a Michelin-starred chef making the bread, but The Bread Station at London Fields is one of them.
Set inside a Grade II listed building that was once the glorious Westminster Library, The Cinnamon Club opened in 2001 with the aim of changing diners’ perceptions of Indian food.
Set in over 220 acres of rolling Cotswold countryside, Tetbury’s Calcot Manor is a splendid sight. Now, thanks to Gordon Ramsay protégé Richard Davies, it has a restaurant to match.
In the age of the gastropub-by-numbers, restaurateur Andreas Antona and chef Adam Bennett should be commended for their adventurous and original approach at The Cross, Kenilworth.
The Elephant restaurant, the double-header venture from Simon Hulstone, is split into two sections. The Room is upstairs from the Brasserie, offering diners unadulterated wizardry from the mercurial chef.
Nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, The Feathered Nest offers elegant modern British food in a beautiful setting with views across the Oxfordshire countryside.
“I want the pub to be personable, not a brand,” chef Steven Smith has said of The Freemasons at Wiswell.
This Michelin-starred, Heston Blumenthal-owned gastropub might be across the road from The Fat Duck, but head chef Pete Gray’s menu of traditional British classics (with a little Heston twist of course) has turned this beautiful old building into a destination restaurant in its own right.
Tom Kitchin’s ‘From Nature to Plate’ ethos runs right through the heart of The Kitchin restaurant. Ingredients are meticulously sourced; there are views of Edinburgh’s waterfront; and the cooking is polished but undeniably earthy.
It seems like a new report appears at least once a week bemoaning the decline of the English pub, but Mark Dodson’s pub restaurant The Masons Arms has defied the trend.
A refurbished coaching inn, which has been granted a Michelin star, within strolling distance of the beach at Old Hunstanton, The Neptune is a restaurant with rooms which has become most renowned for its food - modern English cuisine. It is presided over by one half of the husband-and-wife team who run the place, Kevin Mangeolles.
This relaxed Michelin-starred restaurant in London's Fitzrovia serves up small plates of beautiful French food with a hefty dose of Mediterranean influences.
The Olive Branch restaurant is an award-winning establishment based in the humble setting of a small Rutland pub. Sean Hope oversees the Michelin starred quality food on offer.
With Geoffrey Smeddle at the helm, diners are in for a real treat. Michelin-starred The Peat Inn restaurant offers a menu filled with seasonal dishes.
Holding the only Michelin star in East Yorkshire, this destination restaurant offers luxurious country pub décor, beautiful countryside and a modern take on traditional Yorkshire fare, showcasing the best this bountiful region has to offer.
The Three Chimneys has been serving honest food for over thirty years, emerging from humble beginnings to become one of Scotland’s best-loved restaurants.
When Shaun Hill took over The Walnut Tree Inn in 2008, he wasn't just acquiring a road-side pub in a beautiful rural Welsh setting. Between 1963 and 2001, it was a genuine culinary landmark run by pioneering chef Franco Taruschio but had more recently fell on hard times.
Kent is known as the Garden of England with good reason, and here in the most picturesque of locations sits a restaurant which celebrates the region’s prime terroir with supreme honesty and wonderful skill.
Tucked away in leafy Monmouthshire, The Whitebrook is Chris Harrod’s ode to the majestic Wye Valley. The chef makes the most of both foraged and grown local produce to create dishes of outstanding natural beauty.
Theo Randall's restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel has a crowd-pleasing approach, serving honest yet skilled Italian dishes in a sleek dining room.
Chef Robert Thompson’s first solo restaurant gives the diner front row seats to the theatre of the kitchen and all the wonderful flavours the Isle of Wight has to offer.
Primely located in the heart of Theatreland, Tredwells offers affordable luxury in a relaxed casual dining setting. Food leans towards the hearty, classic British end of the spectrum with dishes made unique through the inclusion of flavours and ingredients from all over the world.
Adam Byatt’s Clapham home of Trinity oozes elegance at every turn, with a brand of sophisticated yet homely cuisine that rarely fails to please diners.
Located in rural Denbighshire, Tyddyn Llan aims to provide a real home-from-home feel. Although most commonly referred to as a ‘restaurant with rooms’, the hotel provides its guests with a couple of ultra-comfortable lounges in which to sit and unwind after a hard day’s romping in the picturesque countryside.
Since returning to Clapham in 2006, Adam Byatt has cemented his reputation as one of London’s finest chefs. In 2015 he opened Upstairs at Trinity, which (as its name suggests) lies just above his award-winning main restaurant. Serving up an exciting menu of small plates in a casual environment, Upstairs is a welcome addition to Clapham’s flourishing food scene.
Even while sitting on North Lincolnshire’s flatlands, Winteringham Fields manages to rise above most of its competition.
It might require a bit of a journey to get to, but this Welsh country house hotel has been quietly transformed into one of the most exciting and innovative restaurants with rooms in the UK.