National Restaurant Awards: Barrafina Adelaide Street takes 2015 title

Sam and Eddie Hart’s restaurant, which opened less than a year ago (7 July), topped the list of the 100 best restaurants in the UK as voted for by 150 industry experts from across the UK.

Restaurant editor Stefan Chomka said: "It’s a sign of the times that a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations can top the list of the best in the country, but that’s just part of Barrafina Adelaide Street’s charm. The second site of this buzzy modern Spanish tapas bar run by Sam and Eddie Hart is charming from top to toe, with everything from queuing diners’ names being scrawled on mirrors and the ice cold beer glasses to the well-stocked raw bar and the slick, friendly service making it a delight."

Kent gastropub The Sportsman jumped four places to number two while Brett Graham’s Notting Hill restaurant The Ledbury held onto number three.

Last year’s winner Gymkhana slipped down to fourth spot while The Hand & Flowers, last year’s Gastropub of the Year moved down just one place to five.

Lyle’s, James Lowe’s restaurant in Shoreditch, named last year’s One to Watch, entered the list for the first time at number six with the top 10 also encompassing L’Enclume, Restaurant Sat Bains, The Dairy and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. 

The awards, held by Restaurant magazine in association with Estrella Damm, took place at the Hurlingham Club in London on Monday 29 June.

Special awards

As well as revealing the coveted list, the event gave out a number of special awards to restaurants and individuals.

Nathan Outlaw, whose eponymous restaurant in Cornwall came in at number 20 on the list, was voted Chef’s Chef for 'gathering respect from his fellow professionals while never seeking the limelight' while chef Rick Stein, whose Padstow restaurant The Seafood Restaurant celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, was given a Lifetime Achievement award.

Nuno Mendes’s newly-opened Taberno do Mercado was named the One to Watch and Bruno Loubet’s Grainstore won Sustainable Restaurant of the Year following an audit by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. 

Other awards included Gastropub of the Year given to The Sportsman; the Service Award, given to Paul Ainsworth at No. 6; Wine List of the Year, awarded to The Square and Cocktail List of the Year, awarded to Chiltern Firehouse.

The list

Votes from 150 industry experts from across the UK, including chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics, determine which restaurants make the top 100 list. 

Each voter is given seven votes based on their best restaurant experiences from the last 12 months. Votes are listed in order of preference and must be for restaurants both in their ‘home’ region and outside it.

Once all votes are cast, they are added up by Restaurant magazine to create the list. In the event of a tied number of votes, the preference ‘weighting' comes into play. 

Special awards -  Best Wine List, Best Front of House, Best Cocktail List and Lifetime Achievement - are voted for separately by the same academy of experts while The One To Watch Award is granted at the discretion of Restaurant magazine.

The Top 100 Restaurants in the UK

1. Barrafina Adelaide Street, London (National Restaurant and Best Spanish Restaurant)
2. The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent (Gastropub of the Year)
3. The Ledbury, London
4. Gymkhana, London (Best Indian Restaurant)
5. The Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
6. Lyle’s, London
7. L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
8. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
9. The Dairy, London
10. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (Highest Climber)
11. The Clove Club, London
12. Hedone, London
13. Restaurant Story, London
14. The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire (Best Restaurant in Wales)
15. The Palomar, London
16. Kitty Fisher’s, London
17. Fera at Claridge’s, London
18. Paul Ainsworth at No.6,  Padstow, Cornwall (The Service Award)
19. Casamia, Bristol
20. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall
21. Dishoom King’s Cross, London
22. The Seahorse, Dartmouth, Devon
23. A Wong, London
24. 64 Degrees Brighton, Brighton
25. 40 Maltby Street, London
26. Zucca, London (Best Italian Restaurant)
27. Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
28. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Auchterarder (Best Restaurant in Scotland)
29. Midsummer House, Cambridge
30. Sticky Walnut, Chester
31. Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, London
32. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London
33. The Square, London (Wine List of the Year)
34. The Quality Chop House, London
35. Pizarro, London
36. The River Café, London
37. The Salt Room, Brighton
38. Social Eating House, London
39. Hibiscus, London
40. Honey & Co, London
41. Northcote, Blackburn, Lancashire
42. The Chilli Pickle, Brighton
43. Grainstore, London (Sustainable Restaurant of the Year)
44. Le Gavroche, London
45. Hawksmoor Air Street, London
46. The Kitchin, Edinburgh
47. The Ox, Bristol
48. Wild Honey, London
49. Scott’s, London
50. Sushi Tetsu, London
51. The Raby Hunt, Darlington, Co. Durham
52. Castle Terrace, Edinburgh
53. The Pass, Lower Beeding, West Sussex
54. The Hardwick, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
55. Ametsa by Arzak Instruction, London
56. The Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire
57. Pollen Street Social, London
58. Pitt Cue, London
59. Quo Vadis, London
60. Lardo, London
61. Porthminster Beach Café, Saint Ives, Cornwall
62. House of Tides, Newcastle
63. The Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire
64. Yauatcha, London
65. Berners Tavern, London
66. Chiltern Firehouse, London (Cocktail List of the Year)
67. The Coach, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
68. Monachyle Mhor, Lochearnhead, Perthshire
69. The Old Stamphouse, Ambleside, Cumbria
70. Duck & Waffle, London
71. The Typing Room, London
72. The Kingham Plough, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
73. The Elephant, Torquay, Devon
74. Brawn, London
75. Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
76. Koffmanns, London
77. Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside, Cumbria
78. Marcus, London
79. Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Corwen
80. Wright’s Food Emporium, Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire
81. Y Polyn, Capel Dewi, Carmarthen
82. Murano, London
83. Otto’s, London
84. Ox and Finch, Glasgow
85. Hakkasan Mayfair, London
86. Harry’s Shack, Portstewart (Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland)
87. Carters of Moseley, Birmingham
88. Purnell’s, Birmingham
89. MEATLiquor, London
90. Shu, Belfast
91. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
92. Lido, Clifton, Bristol
93. The French, Manchester
94. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
95. Little Social, London
96. The Scran & Scallie, Edinburgh
97. Antidote, London
98. Manchester House, Manchester
99. The Wild Rabbit, Kingham, Oxfordshire
100. St John, London