Amidst all the glitz and glamour of London’s dining scene, beyond the MICHELIN stars and the fancy starched tablecloths, there are neighbourhood institutions where real Londoners go to feed themselves on a regular basis. Sure, we all love the idea of dining at BRAT, The Devonshire, or The Ritz for every single meal. But it’s simply not realistic. Which is why the Good Food Guide regularly releases a list of the very best local restaurants across the country – to spotlight where people are really eating, not just where Instagram says they are…
Just today, they released the 16th edition of the list – and they’ve ranked the restaurants for the first time. According to the Good Food Guide, the “Best Local Restaurant awards celebrate the community driven restaurants that offer brilliant value for money and top-quality cooking in a relaxed, convivial setting.” To find them, they send inspectors and reviewers around the country, parsing through thousands of restaurants nominated by the public.
Taking the very top spot was La Locanda in Gisburn, Lancashire. The restaurant was praised for offering “an uncompromisingly authentic taste of Italy, strategically positioned to make use of Lancashire’s rich natural larder.”
While London may not have taken the top spot, one of our restaurants slotted neatly into 4th place. Gina is a neighbourhood restaurant in Chingford that was opened by pastry chef, TV personality, and author Ravneet Gill. It was recognised as the very best local restaurant in London, and the 4th best in all of Britain.
The best local restaurants in Britain
The restaurants in the list run the gamut, ranging from “a traditional Italian in Lancashire and a bottle-shop-cum-restaurant in Cardiff to a tiny space in Mull that serves the best Scottish produce”. But these 10 venues took the top spots as the very best local restaurants in Britain:
- La Locanda, Gisburn, Lancashire
- Cantina Caruso, Margate, Kent
- Ar Bòrd, Isle of Mull, Highlands & Islands
- Gina, Chingford, London
- The Black Bear Inn, Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire
- Tiella Trattoria, Bethnal Green, London
- Wangs, Bristol
- Wild, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
- Almanac, Glossop, Derbyshire
- Black Wheat Club, York, North Yorkshire
London’s best local restaurants
Okay, but what if you don’t want to travel out of the city? Where in the capital should you eat? These London restaurants also featured on the top 100 list:
- Gina, Chingford (#4)
- Tiella Trattoria, Bethnal Green (#6)
- Les 2 Garçons, Crouch End (#14)
- Ida, Queen’s Park (#20)
- Mambow, Clapton (#26)
- Janda Diner, Peckham (#37)
- Home SW15, Putney (#49)
- Logma, Hackney (#51)
- Teal by Sally Abé, Hackney (#52)
- Calong, Stoke Newington (#81)
- Lupa, Highbury (#99)
You can read the full list of Britain’s 100 best local restaurants here.
