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These Are the U.K.’s Top 100 Restaurants—and There’s a New Winner

A restaurant deep in the countryside of northern England has been named the best in the U.K.

These Are the U.K.’s Top 100 Restaurants—and There’s a New Winner
Turnip and crab at Moor Hall. (Photographer: Richard Vines/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A restaurant deep in the countryside of northern England has been named the best in the U.K., beating some of the biggest names in gastronomy and leaving high-profile London rivals in its wake. 

Chef Mark Birchall opened Moor Hall Restaurant With Rooms in 2017 and it has already become a destination, though it is 215 miles (346 kilometers) from the capital. It takes first place in the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards, which ranks the U.K. Top 100.

The next four places are all taken by London chefs. Second is Brat, Tomos Parry’s Basque-influenced restaurant in Shoreditch. Third is a new entry, Tom Brown’s modern-British Cornerstone, in Hackney Wick.  Fourth is Core by Clare Smyth, a two-Michelin starred establishment in Notting Hill.  And fifth is Sabor, a Spanish restaurant in Mayfair. 

The list is compiled from the votes of 150 U.K. chefs, restaurateurs and food writers. I am a voter. Restaurant magazine is published by William Reed, the group behind the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Neither Gordon Ramsay nor Alain Ducasse, high-profile international chefs with London restaurants, makes the list, which tends to highlight new restaurants over classic establishments.

Le Gavroche and the Waterside Inn are among those missing.

These Are the U.K.’s Top 100 Restaurants—and There’s a New Winner

Moor Hall is set in five acres (two hectares) of gardens in a house of mid-16th-century origins in rural Aughton, Lancashire. The food is more than a match for the beautiful setting. Birchall has already won two Michelin stars for dishes that may include smoked eel with potato, fermented garlic, flowers; fallow deer with elderberry, beetroot and kale; and gingerbread with roots and pine.

The four-course lunch menu costs £65 ($82), while eight courses are £125. I visited last year and it is a deserving winner. The wine list is adventurous, too. There are, for example, 20 whites by the glass, including options from Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

These Are the U.K.’s Top 100 Restaurants—and There’s a New Winner

“Mark is an incredibly talented chef who has a clear ambition to not just create one of the best restaurants in the U.K. but in the world,” says Stefan Chomka, editor of Restaurant magazine.

This year sees three female chefs place in the Top 10: Clare Smyth for Core; Nieves Barragan for Sabor; and Monica Galetti for Mere.
In total, 46 of the Top 100 restaurants are located outside of London.

Other awards, announced at the Hurlingham Club on Monday night include Chef of the Year: Clare Smyth; Restaurateur of the Year: Tom and Michaela Kitchin; and Lifetime Achievement: John Williams of the Ritz.

The Top 100 (last year’s placings in parentheses)

1. Moor Hall (6)
2. Brat (14)
3. Cornerstone (-)
4. Core by Clare Smyth (4)
5. Sabor (2)
6. L’Enclume (5)
7. Mere (-)
8. Claude Bosi at Bibendum (11)
9. Ynyshir (-)
10. The Ledbury (17)
11. A Wong (3)
12. The River Café (21)
13. The Sportsman (9)
14. Restaurant Sat Bains (8)
15. Kiln (1)
16. Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 (23)
17. Lyle’s (7)
18. Forest Side (-)
19. Casamia (27)
20. House of Tides (30)
21. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw (10)
22. Roganic (-)
23. The French House (-)
24. Elystan Street (34)
25. The Ritz (86)
26. Frenchie (91)
27. Brawn (44)
28. Noble Rot (49)
29. The Black Swan at Oldstead (20)
30. The Fordwich Arms (90)
31. Chez Bruce (33)
32. Hide (-)
33. Ikoyi (100)
34. Trinity (36)
35. The Crown at Burchett’s Green (35)
36. The Coach (12)
37. The Hand & Flowers (62)
38. The Parkers Arms (76)
39. Freemasons at Wiswell (18)
40. Skosh (-)
41. The Elephant (92)
42. Roots (-)
43. The Clove Club (31)
44. The Frog by Adam Handling (79)
45. Roux at Parliament Square (-)
46. Burlington at The Devonshire Arms (-)
47. Cora Pearl (-)
48. Hicce (-)
49. Ondine (26)
50. The Quality Chop House (16)
51. Black Axe Mangal (65)
52. Pollen Street Social (55)
53. Whatley Manor (-)
54. Coombeshead Farm (13)
55. St. John (-)
56. The Angel Inn at Hetton (-)
57. The Dairy (73)
58. The Fat Duck (32)
59. The Palomar (67)
60. Helene Darroze at The Connaught (-)
61. Kym’s (-)
62. Social Eating House (-)
63. The Kitchin (-)
64. Bright (-)
65. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (-)
66. Etch (-)
67. Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (25)
68. Timberyard (71)
69. Midsummer House (48)
70. Rochelle Canteen (-)
71. Two Lights (-)
72. 40 Maltby Street (64)
73. Mana (-)
74. The Walnut Tree (38)
75. Indian Accent (22)
76. Kitchen Table by Bubbledogs (87)
77. Yügo (-)
78. Restaurant Story (84)
79. The Little Chartroom (-)
80. The Laughing Heart (-)
81. The Mash Inn (-)
82. Raby Hunt (45)
83. Hedone (52)
84. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie (82)
85. The Woodspeen (-)
86. Wine and Brine (78)
87. Holborn Dining Room (61)
88. The Harwood Arms (-)
89. Brigadiers (-)
90. Perilla (99)
91. The Little Fish Market (37)
92. The Man Behind the Curtain (-)
93. Carters of Moseley (66)
94. Darjeeling Express (-)
95. Joro (-)
96. Le Cochon Aveugle (-)
97. The White Swan at Fence (-)
98. Spring (-)
99. Holbeck Ghyll (-)
100. Trullo (-)

Richard Vines is the chief food critic at Bloomberg. Follow him on Twitter @richardvines and Instagram @richard.vines

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy Coulter "Tim" at tcoulter@bloomberg.net

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