The Good Food Guide has announced Britain’s 100 Best Local Restaurants. Compiled from an initial list of over 37,000 public nominations, all of the restaurants in the list have been inspected by Good Food Guide inspectors.
First compiled by Raymond Postgate in 1951 who put together a crack team of restaurant inspectors with the aim to “raise the standard of cooking in Britain’ and ‘to do ourselves all a bit of good by making our holidays, travels and evenings out in due course more enjoyable”. The Good Food Guide has long been considered a reliable reference for the UK’s best restaurants.
When it was acquired by CODE Hospitality in 2021, it became fully digital. The app and digital book now features over 900 restaurants, pubs, cafes and wine bars across Britain. All reviews are conducted anonymously by a network of 30 inspectors and paid for in full. No establishment can buy their way into the Guide in order to maintain its trustworthiness.
This year, the Guide decided to do a different kind of ‘best restaurant’ list honouring local heroes all over England, Scotland and Wales. Tallow, a neighbourhood restaurant in Southborough, Royal Tunbridge Wells came out on top as the overall Best Local Restaurant topping a list of 100 local favourites across the country.
Typically, the Good Food Guide says, Best Local Restaurants have been located in classic ‘neighbourhood’ locations, but their team of inspectors found that connection to the community is far more important than the restaurant’s address so has included some city centre restaurants that maintain a ‘neighbourhood’ feel.
Seven restaurants in Manchester made the list this year, these are The Spärrows, 10 Tib Lane, Edinburgh Castle Ancoats, Another Hand, Higher Ground, Bombay to Mumbai Bramhall, and Lily’s Vegetarian Indian Cuisine in Ashton.
These join Four & Twenty, The Yan, Kysty, and The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman’s Rest in Cumbria, Belzan in Merseyside, Parkers Arms in Lancashire and Covino, The Nag’s Head, and The White Horse in Cheshire to total 16 restaurants in the North West.
A nomination for Higher Ground from a member of the public read: “A friendly, welcoming local restaurant in the heart of the city centre, creating a much-needed link to the local food system. Using local produce from the restaurant’s partner farm, Cinderwood Market Garden, guests are able to connect with the seasons and the land. Many regulars and neighbours meet here and enjoy each other’s company, often bumping into other friends which creates a real sense of community”
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality said of the awards; “Local restaurants are so often the heartbeat of communities; providing jobs, generating economic growth and, most importantly, providing fantastic food. It’s brilliant to see such huge support from the public for their local restaurants and is deserved recognition of their hard work. This sort of support is invaluable as venues face ever-rising costs and is essential in keeping valued businesses viable.”
Thom Hetherington, Co-founder of the Northern Bar and Restaurant Show said; “The Good Food Guide was a revelation to me as a fledgling foodie 25 years ago, and its authority and independence is as crucial to today’s diners as ever – not just highlighting big names, but shining a light on the sometimes hidden restaurant gems that locals love and others need to know about.”
These are all fantastic, deserving restaurants but if you think your favourite local restaurant should have been on the list too, look out for next year’s open nominations.
The full list of The Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurants:
Central & East of England
Tropea, West Midlands
Watson and Walpole, Suffolk
Chapter, West Midlands
Brix & Bones, Norfolk
Stiffkey Red Lion, Norfolk
Fancett’s Bistro, Cambridgeshire
The Kilpeck Inn, Herefordshire
Hitchen’s Barn, Rutland
Lark, Suffolk
The Silver Cup, Hertfordshire
London
Les 2 Garçons, London
Copper & Ink, London
Sam’s Riverside, London
The Holland, London
Giulia, London
Akub Restaurant, London
Hawthorn, London
Church Road, London
North East
Homestead Kitchen, North Yorkshire
The Hispanist, East Yorkshire
Hearth, East Yorkshire
Ophelia, Tyne & Wear
Coin, West Yorkshire
Brooks, West Yorkshire
Long Friday, Tyne & Wear
The Orange Bird, South Yorkshire
Bantam, North Yorkshire
Hinnies, Tyne & Wear
Tonco, South Yorkshire
Hern, West Yorkshire
North West
The Spärrows, Greater Manchester
Four & Twenty, Cumbria
Belzan, Merseyside
10 Tib Lane, Greater Manchester
The Yan, Cumbria
Edinburgh Castle, Greater Manchester
Another Hand, Greater Manchester
Covino, Cheshire
The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman’s Rest, Cumbria
Parkers Arms, Lancashire
Bombay to Mumbai, Greater Manchester
The Nag’s Head, Cheshire
The White Horse, Cheshire
Lily’s Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Greater Manchester
Kysty, Cumbria
Higher Ground, Greater Manchester
Scotland
The Kinneuchar Inn, Fife
The Loveable Rogue, Strathclyde
Celentano’s, Strathclyd
Bar Brett, Strathclyde
Eighty Eight, Strathclyde
The Palmerston, Lothians
L’Escargot Bleu, Lothians
Ga Ga Kitchen & Bar, Strathclyde
Gloriosa,Strathclyde
Eusebi Deli, Strathclyde
The Oystercatcher, Argyll & Bute
The Dory Bistro, Fife
The Galleon Bistro, Highlands & Islands
KORA by Tom Kitchin, Lothians
The Bothy, Moray
South East
Tallow, Kent – (Overall winner)
Seasonality, Berkshire (South East regional winner)
The Greyhound, Buckinghamshire
The Dew Drop Inn, Berkshire
Samphire, Kent
Five Little Pigs, Oxfordshire
Quince, Kent
The Victoria Oxshott, Surrey
The Pilgrim, Buckinghamshire
Palmito, West Sussex
The Purefoy Arms, Hampshire
Pompette, Oxfordshire
The Folkestone Wine Company, Kent
The Goods Shed, Kent
Fourth and Church, East Sussex
South West
Wild Artichokes, Devon
Sonny Stores, Bristol
Pythouse Kitchen Garden, Wiltshire
The Greenhouse, Cornwall
Art Sushi, Dorset
Bank, Bristol
Little Hollows Pasta, Bristol
The Cotley Inn, Somerset
Iford Manor Cafe & Kitchen, Wiltshire
Caper and Cure, Bristol
Brassica, Dorset
Littlefrench, Bristol
The Rocket Store, Cornwall
Andria, Devon
Beckford Canteen, Somerset
The Exmoor Forest Inn, Somerset
The Halfway at Kineton, Gloucestershire
Wales
Rocket & Rye, Glamorgan
Y Polyn, Carmarthenshire
The Warren, Carmarthenshire
Heathcock, Glamorgan
Paternoster Farm, Pembrokeshire
The Black Bear Inn, Monmouthshire
Yr Hen Printworks, Ceredigion
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