The Cumbria restaurant, which opened in 2002, has returned to the top spot having previously held the position in 2017’s GFG (published September 2016), and is one of only three restaurants on this year's list to score a perfect 10 rating.
“There was no ignoring the fact that L’Enclume is a really extraordinary restaurant, once again topping the bill after a two-year sojourn in second place,” says Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide.
“It dazzles; not with glitter-ball ritz and razzmatazz, but with the understated glow that comes from being indisputably world-class.”
Chef Nathan Outlaw’s eponymous Cornish restaurant, which topped the list last year, has come third in this year’s ranking, while last year’s highest new entry, Core by Clare Smyth, was placed second.
A new entry into the top 10 is Mark Birchall’s Moor Hall in Lancashire, crowned National Restaurant of the Year at The Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards 2019 earlier this year, which has moved from number 11 last year to number five in this year’s GFG.
The highest new entry in this year’s Top 50 list is Adam Byatt’s Trinity restaurant in Clapham, which came in at number 31.
“I couldn't be happier with the news that L’Enclume has returned to the No.1 spot in The Good Food Guide,” says Rogan.
“It is a huge achievement which we have worked exceedingly hard towards, and I am very proud of my team who have made it possible.
“I am privileged to work alongside such talented individuals, and making the number one spot again has only fuelled our collective determination to get better and better.”
Other winners in this year’s guide include to Pam Brunton at Inver in Strachur, Argyll & Bute, who was named Chef of the Year; Will Devlin from The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent, who picked up the Chef to Watch award; and The Mash Inn in Radnage, Buckinghamshire, which was named Restaurant of the Year.
The Woodsman in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was named the UK’s Best New Entry, while Peg in Hackney was crowned Best New Entry in London.
The Top 50 (score in brackets)
1 L’Enclume, Cumbria (10)
2 Core by Clare Smyth, London (10)
3 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (10)
4 Ynyshir, Powys (9)
5 Moor Hall, Lancashire (9)
6 Claude Bosi at Bibendum, London (9)
7 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (9)
8 Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham (9)
9 Casamia, Bristol (9)
10 Pollen Street Social, London (9)
11 Adam Reid at The French, Manchester (8)
12 Restaurant Story, London (8)
13 The Raby Hunt, County Durham (8)
14 Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Tayside (8)
15 The Greenhouse, London (8)
16 The Ledbury, London (8)
17 Marcus, London (8)
18 The Fat Duck, Berkshire (8)
19 Roganic, London (8)
20 Fraiche, Merseyside (8)
21 Bohemia, Jersey (8)
22 Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire (8)
23 The Peat Inn, Fife (8)
24 Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucestershire (8)
25 The Kitchin, Edinburgh (7)
26 Lake Road Kitchen, Cumbria (7)
27 Forest Side, Cumbria (7)
28 Orwells, Oxfordshire (7)
29 A. Wong, London (7)
30 Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire (7)
31 Trinity, London (7) New
32 Matt Worswick at the Latymer, Surrey (7)
33 Inver, Argyll & Bute (7) New
34 The Black Swan, Yorkshire (7) New
35 Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan (7)
36 Winteringham Fields, Lincolnshire (7) New
37 The Sportsman, Kent (7)
38 The Whitebrook, Monmouthshire (7)
39 The Man Behind The Curtain, Leeds (7) New
40 Paul Ainsworth, Cornwall (7) New
41 Alchemilla, Nottingham (7) New
42 Wilks, Bristol (7) New
43 Cail Bruich, Glasgow (7) New
44 Where The Light Gets In,
Greater Manchester (7) New
45 Sosban & The Old Butcher’s, Anglesey (7) New
46 Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (7)
47 Le Gavroche, London (7)
48 Artichoke, Buckinghamshire (7)
49 Adam’s, Birmingham (7)
50 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh (7)