Michelin stars, AA Rosettes, The World's 50 Best – the restaurant industry has its fair share of awards and honours, but within the UK specifically, arguably the most prestigious is the National Restaurant Awards. The annual event lists the country's top 100 restaurants, with a host of special awards littered throughout, voted for by a panel of judges from around the hospitality and media industries and revealed at an awards ceremony yesterday at The Hurlingham Club in Fulham.
The comprehensive list travels to all corners of the country, with restaurants from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, inside big cities, hidden away in remote villages, tasting menus, fire-based cooking, and plenty more besides. Nabbing the top spot is no mean feat, and this year that honour is more special than ever, having been awarded to a restaurant outside of England for the first time in the award's 16-year history.
The winners
Ynyshir, the restaurant from chef-patron Gareth Ward located near Machynlleth on the west coast of Wales, took home number one. Describing itself as "fun dining, not fine dining" and serving up a Japanese-influenced menu with a focus on cooking over fire, it's a universally acclaimed restaurant, and the result caps off what's been a big year for Ward. The restaurant was awarded its second Michelin star in February, and has taken first place in the NRAs, firmly putting Welsh dining on the map.
"What Gareth Ward has done at Ynyshir is remarkable," says Stefan Chomka, editor of Restaurant and BigHospitality, the publications behind the NRAs. "Taking on a restaurant located in a traditional country house hotel and putting such a personal and edgy stamp on it was a bold, brave move – a real statement of intent – but one that has really paid off. Ynyshir is without doubt one of the most unique and exciting places to eat in the UK at the moment, possibly in the world."
2021 winner Moor Hall remained high on the list in second place, while a firm London favourite, the wood-fired grill restaurant Brat, came in at third. Perhaps the biggest shock came from fourth place recipient The Ritz, which moved 40 places up the list from where it sat last year. That's no mean feat, especially for a restaurant as established as this. It's a testament to head chef Spencer Metzger, who also won the Chef to Watch award.
Ruth Rogers of The River Café wins the Lifetime Achievement award at the London Restaurant Awards 2022
Chef of the Year was deservedly awarded to Simon Rogan, another notch in the belt of an incredibly successful year that has seen the chef receive a third Michelin star. His Cartmel restaurant L'Enclume took the tenth place spot. The Lifetime Achievement award, meanwhile, was received by Ruth Rogers from the iconic (and recently Kim Kardashian-approved) River Café in Hammersmith. Rogers used her speech to touch on staffing issues in the industry and the work that needs to be done to ensure safe and supportive professional environments within hospitality.
London restaurants
The NRAs (and the teams behind them at Restaurant magazine and BigHospitality), have always proudly championed restaurants across the length and breadth of the UK, and with more and more chefs either leaving the capital to set up restaurants elsewhere, or else creating excellent restaurants throughout cities, towns and villages that are up there with the best restaurants our city has to offer, there remains the question of whether London is the culinary powerhouse it once was compared to the rest of the UK. London, though, is still demonstrably the epicentre of cooking in the UK – at least according to the NRAs' judging panel, which named 61 London restaurants in the top 100.
New London entries include cult favourite Mangal 2 in Dalston, which came in at position 35 for its inaugural year on the list, 2021's much-hyped and incredibly popular Sessions Arts Club which took 30th place, and the acclaimed BiBi in position five.
The list in full
The full list reads as follows, London restaurants in bold and in the map below.
- Ynyshir
- Moor Hall
- Brat
- The Ritz
- BiBi
- The Ledbury
- A. Wong
- Core by Clare Smyth
- Ikoyi
- L'Enclume
- Manteca
- The Angel at Hetton
- Fallow
- House of Tides
- Sabor
- Perilla
- The Fordwich Arms
- Da Terra
- Kiln
- KOL
- Noble Rot Soho
- Brawn
- Inver
- Lyle's
- Trinity
- The River Café
- Tony Parkin at the Tudor Room
- Kitchen Table
- Claude Bosi at Bibendum
- Sessions Arts Club
- St. JOHN
- The Black Swan at Oldstead
- Chez Bruce
- Restaurant Story
- Mangal 2
- Planque
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- 40 Maltby Street
- Restaurant Sat Bains
- The French House
- Bright
- The Guinea Grill
- Frog by Adam Handling
- Parker's Arms
- Pollen Street Social
- Silo
- The Sportsman
- Pine
- Maison François
- Native at Browns
- Evelyn's Table
- Hjem
- Allegra
- Erst
- The Clove Club
- The Seahorse
- Elystan Street
- Etch
- SOLA
- Trattoria Brutto
- The Man Behind the Curtain
- Frenchie
- Hélène Darroze at The Connaught
- Kudu
- Osip
- Midsummer House
- The Bridge Arms
- The Grill at The Dorchester
- Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill
- Alchemilla
- Gymkhana
- Raby Hunt
- The Quality Chop House
- Rochelle Canteen
- Café Deco
- Decimo
- Joro
- Mana
- Paul Ainsworth At No.6
- Carters of Moseley
- Cottage in the Woods
- Hide
- Orasay
- Ondine
- Ox
- Trivet
- The Old Stamp House
- Opheem
- Sargasso
- The Little Chartroom
- Tallow
- Aizle
- Chishuru
- Le Cochon Aveugle
- Muse by Tom Aikens
- The Northcote
- The Palmerston
- Benares
- La Dame de Pic London
- Endo at the Rotunda
The awards
Other awards, made up of restaurants in the 100 list and otherwise, were handed out throughout the course of the night. Check out the full list below.
BiBi's chef-patron Chet Sharma wins the award for Best Opening
Carl Sukonik
Iconic Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes took home the One to Watch award
Carl Sukonik
National Restaurant of the Year
Ynyshir
Gastropub of the Year
The Angel at Hetton
Best Restaurant in England
Moor Hall
Best Restaurant in Scotland
Inver
Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland
Ox
Chef of the Year
Simon Rogan
Chef to Watch
Spencer Metzger
Opening of the Year
BiBi
Restaurateur of the Year
Dan and Natasha Smith
The Service Award
The Ritz
The Sustainability Award
Where The Light Gets In
One to Watch
Lisboeta
Cocktail List of the Year
Kol
Wine List of the Year
Noble Rot Soho
Food Lovers Award
Beach House
Lifetime Achievement Award
Ruth Rogers
Read more about 2022's winners at nationalrestaurantawards.co.uk
