The 50 best restaurants in the UK for 2019 revealed

Three restaurants scored perfect cooking scores of 10

Core by Clare Smyth scored a perfect 10 (Core)

The best restaurants in the UK for 2019 have been revealed in Waitrose’s latest Good Food Guide.

Taking the top spot for the second year running is Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall, which scored its third perfect 10.

The Port Isaac seafood restaurant was commended in the Good Food Guide 2019 by Waitrose & Partners for its “knack for deploying first-rate seafood to its ultimate advantage” and Outlaw’s “confident cooking.”

What’s more, the judges praised the two Michelin star restaurant’s “lack of pomp” and its tasting menu that is “ingenious in its simplicity, yet continues to surprise.”

The Waitrose & Partners Good Food Guide has been published annually since 1951 and sees restaurants, pubs and cafes across the UK reviewed to determine the best.

This year, notable trends include restaurants focussing on reducing food waste, catering for vegans and vegetarians, and diners being able to pay for their meals before eating.

Chefs such as Alexis Gauthier of Gauthier Soho, who is looking to transition to an entirely vegan menu by 2020, and Tom Oldroyd, who runs meat-free Mondays at his tiny self-named restaurant in Islington, have led the charge with championing vegetables.

The guide's editor Elizabeth Carter says: "As far back as 2014, The Good Food Guide noted that some of our top chefs were taking a more vegetable-focused approach, with meat playing a bit part. Following a plant-based diet is neither a trend nor a fad, but a lifestyle choice which is set to shift up a gear in the years to come."

Carter also explains why Restaurant Nathan Outlaw was awarded the top spot: “This is the perfect Good Food Guide restaurant, embodying everything we champion. Expect cooking that is consistently of the highest quality combining the freshest ingredients, from shellfish and fish from sea and estuary, to locally grown fruits and vegetables.

“There’s a brilliant wine list and the excellent service is devoted to diner enjoyment with no formality. It is with great delight that Restaurant Nathan Outlaw has been awarded a perfect 10 for the third year running, and retains the number one spot in our top 50.”

Upon being crowned the Good Food Guide’s top restaurant for a second time, Nathan Outlaw says: “Learning that we had been placed in the top spot last year and retained a cooking score of 10/10 from the previous year was amazing, but this is just mind-blowing.

“My aim has always been to offer customers food cooked simply but with subtle layers of flavour and to make a visit to Restaurant Nathan Outlaw an experience to remember, for not only the food, but also for the professional and welcoming hospitality our Front of House team provide.”

Restaurant Nathan Outlaw wasn’t the only one to be scored a perfect cooking score of 10, however - L’Enclume in Cumbria and Core in Notting Hill were also awarded top marks.

The top 50 best restaurants in the UK for 2019:

1. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall
2. L'Enclume, Cumbria
3. Core by Clare Smyth, West London
4. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire
5. Ynyshir, Powys
6. Claude Bosi at Bibendum, West London
7. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, West London
8. Casamia, Bristol
9. Pollen Street Social, Central London
10. The Fat Duck, Berkshire
11. Moor Hall, Lancashire
12. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Perthshire & Kinross
13. Adam Reid at The French, Greater Manchester
14. Bohemia, Jersey
15. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucestershire
16. Restaurant Story, South London
17. André Garrett at Cliveden, Berkshire
18. The Ledbury, West London
19. Fraiche, Merseyside
20. Roganic, Central London
21. Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire
22. Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Central London
23. The Peat Inn, Fife
24. Marcus, West London
25. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, North London
26. The Kitchin, East Lothian
27. Forest Side, Cumbria
28. A. Wong, Central London
29. Orwells, Oxfordshire
30. Sketch, Lecture Room & Library, Central London
31. Hedone, West London
32. The Ritz, Central London
33. Castle Terrace, Lothians
34. The Three Chimneys, Highlands & Islands
35. The Waterside Inn, Berkshire
36. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire
37. Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan
38. Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire
39. Matt Worswick at the Latymer, Surrey
40. The Raby Hunt, Co Durham
41. The Greenhouse, Central London
42. The Sportsman, Kent
43. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Lothians
44. Artichoke, Buckinghamshire
45. Lake Road Kitchen, Cumbria
46. Adam's, West Midlands
47. Morston Hall, Norfolk
48. Le Gavroche, Central London
49. The Whitebrook, Monmouthshire
50. Hambleton Hall, Rutland

A selection of restaurants won specific awards too:

• Chef of the Year: Gareth Ward, Ynyshir, Powys
• Chef to Watch: Alex Bond, Alchemilla, Nottingham
• Restaurant of the Year: A. Wong, Victoria, London
• Best New Entry, UK: The Moorcock, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire
• Best New Entry, London: Cornerstone, Hackney Wick
• Best for Sustainability: Angela’s, Margate, Kent
• Best Local Restaurant: The Old Bank, Snettisham, Norfolk

Carter suggests diners may finally have had enough of pretentious menus: “It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary,” she says.