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
- Barrafina Adelaide Street, London (National Restaurant and Best Spanish Restaurant)
- The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent (Gastropub of the Year)
- The Ledbury, London
- Gymkhana, London (Best Indian Restaurant)
- The Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
- Lyle’s, London
- L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
- Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
- The Dairy, London
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (Highest Climber)
- The Clove Club, London
- Hedone, London
- Restaurant Story, London
- The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire (Best Restaurant in Wales)
- The Palomar, London
- Kitty Fisher’s, London
- Fera at Claridge’s, London
- Paul Ainsworth at No.6, Padstow, Cornwall (The Service Award)
- Casamia, Bristol
- Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall
- Dishoom King’s Cross, London
- The Seahorse, Dartmouth, Devon
- A Wong, London
- 64 Degrees Brighton, Brighton
- 40 Maltby Street, London
- Zucca, London (Best Italian Restaurant)
- Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
- Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Auchterarder (Best Restaurant in Scotland)
- Midsummer House, Cambridge
- Sticky Walnut, Chester
- Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, London
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London
- The Square, London (Wine List of the Year)
- The Quality Chop House, London
- Pizarro, London
- The River Café, London
- The Salt Room, Brighton
- Social Eating House, London
- Hibiscus, London
- Honey & Co, London
- Northcote, Blackburn, Lancashire
- The Chilli Pickle, Brighton
- Grainstore, London (Sustainable Restaurant of the Year)
- Le Gavroche, London
- Hawksmoor Air Street, London
- The Kitchin, Edinburgh
- The Ox, Bristol
- Wild Honey, London
- Scott’s, London
- Sushi Tetsu, London
- The Raby Hunt, Darlington, Co. Durham
- Castle Terrace, Edinburgh
- The Pass, Lower Beeding, West Sussex
- The Hardwick, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
- Ametsa by Arzak Instruction, London
- The Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire
- Pollen Street Social, London
- Pitt Cue, London
- Quo Vadis, London
- Lardo, London
- Porthminster Beach Café, Saint Ives, Cornwall
- House of Tides, Newcastle
- The Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire
- Yauatcha, London
- Berners Tavern, London
- Chiltern Firehouse, London (Cocktail List of the Year)
- The Coach, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
- Monachyle Mhor, Lochearnhead, Perthshire
- The Old Stamphouse, Ambleside, Cumbria
- Duck & Waffle, London
- The Typing Room, London
- The Kingham Plough, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
- The Elephant, Torquay, Devon
- Brawn, London
- Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Koffmanns, London
- Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside, Cumbria
- Marcus, London
- Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Corwen
- Wright’s Food Emporium, Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire
- Y Polyn, Capel Dewi, Carmarthen
- Murano, London
- Otto’s, London
- Ox and Finch, Glasgow
- Hakkasan Mayfair, London
- Harry’s Shack, Portstewart (Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland)
- Carters of Moseley, Birmingham
- Purnell’s, Birmingham
- MEATLiquor, London
- Shu, Belfast
- Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
- Lido, Clifton, Bristol
- The French, Manchester
- The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
- Little Social, London
- The Scran & Scallie, Edinburgh
- Antidote, London
- Manchester House, Manchester
- The Wild Rabbit, Kingham, Oxfordshire
- St John, London