AA Gill is definitely in the minority of one (going by this week's review) as there's been almost universal praise for Barrafina's latest since it opened - and it's now been voted best in the country too.
The National Restaurant Awards were held tonight and Barrafina Adelaide Street walked away with that top prize (plus a Best Spanish Restaurant nod) - which is bound to be satisfying as they're just getting ready to open another site later this month. But that's not the only plaudit that was handed out tonight, with all manner of awards - many based on their standing in Top 100 UK Restaurants list, including:
- Chefs’ Chef of the Year – Nathan Outlaw
- Gastropub of the Year – The Sportsman
- Best Restaurant in Scotland - Restaurant Andrew Fairlie
- Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland - Harry’s Shack
- Best Restaurant in Wales - The Walnut Tree
- Wine List of the Year – The Square
- Cocktail List of the Year – Chiltern Firehouse
- The Service Award – Paul Ainsworth at Number 6
- Sustainable Restaurant of the Year – Grain Store
- Highest Climber – Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- One To Watch – Taberna do Mercado
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Rick Stein
- OpenTable Diners’ Choice ‘Fit for Foodies’ Award – The Chef’s Table
- Best Italian Restaurant - Zucca
- Best Indian Restaurant – Gymkhana
- Best Spanish Restaurant – Barrafina Adelaide Street
As for the whole list - 51% of it is made up of London entries and a whopping 45% are new entries (with the highest being Lyle's at no 6. The entire list looks like this:
- Barrafina Adelaide Street
- The Sportsman
- The Ledbury
- Gymkhana
- The Hand & Flowers
- Lyle's
- L'Enclume
- Restaurant Sat Bains
- The Dairy
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
- The Clove Club
- Hedone
- Restaurant Story
- The Walnut Tree
- The Palomar
- Kitty Fisher's
- Fera at Claridge's
- Paul Ainsworth at No 6
- Casamia
- Restaurant Nathan Outlaw
- Dishoom King's Cross
- The Seahorse
- A Wong
- 64 Degrees Brighton
- 40 Maltby Street
- Zucca
- Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons
- Restaurant Andrew Fairlie
- Midsummer house
- Sticky Walnut
- Kitchen Table at BubbleDogs
- Dinner By Heston Blumenthal
- The Square
- The Quality Chop House
- Pizarro
- The River Cafe
- The Salt Rooms
- Social Eating House
- Hibiscus
- Honey & Co
- Northcote
- The Chilli Pickle
- Grain Store
- Le Gavroche
- Hawksmoor Air Street
- The Kitchin
- The Ox (Bristol)
- Wild Honey
- Scott's
- Sushi Tetsu
- The Raby Hunt (Co Durham)
- Castle Terrace
- The Pass
- The Hardwick
- Ametsa By Arzak Instruction
- The Hinds Head
- Pollen Street Social
- Pitt Cue
- Quo Vadis
- Lardo
- Porthminster Beach Cafe
- House of Tides
- The Waterside Inn
- Yauatcha
- Berners Tavern
- Chiltern Firehouse
- The Coach
- Monachyle Mhor
- The Old Stamphouse
- Duck & Waffle
- The Typing Room
- The Kingham Plough
- The Elephant
- Brawn
- Le Champignon Sauvage
- Koffmann’s
- Lake Road kitchen
- Marcus
- Tyddyn Llan
- Wright's Food Emporium
- Y Polyn
- Murano
- Otto's
- Ox and Finch (Glasgow)
- Hakkasan Mayfair
- Harry's Shack
- Carters of Moseley
- Purnell's
- MEATliquor
- Shu
- Restaurant Martin Wishart
- Lido (Clifton)
- The French
- The Fat Duck
- Little Social
- The Scran & Scallie
- Antidote
- Manchester House
- The Wild Rabbit
- St John
As for the awards themselves, well this is really a UK version of the World's 50 Best list as it's run by the same peope - Restaurant Magazine and is voted on by 150 industry experts, made up of chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics and other food experts and gastronomes, spread across all regions of the UK.
