The best restaurant in Britain is Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles. The Perth and Kinross establishment tops this year’s Sunday Times Food List, which will be published in The Sunday Times on October 28.
Andrew Fairlie’s 50-cover restaurant has steadily risen in stature since he arrived at Gleneagles 11 years ago. The establishment came seventh in last year’s Sunday Times Food List, and eighth the year before.
Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles
The ambitious chef puts his success down to concentrating on good food rather than gimmicks and fads. He says: “Our customers like that we have evolved without going off and following trends. Some new techniques I can use, but with others I just think ‘no’. It’s about having confidence in your menu.”
The Sunday Times Food List ranks Britain’s top 100 restaurants strictly by the quality of their food, and is compiled from marks and comments from real diners. This year’s list has been compiled from over 75,000 individual reports.
Karen Robinson, Editor of The Sunday Times Food List, says “Andrew Fairlie’s insistence on using the finest ingredients, available from local Scottish hillsides and waters, and the way he introduces exotic influences while never blindly following trends, make his food exceptional. And he’s disproved the commonly held belief that golf and good food don’t mix.
“His top placing also shows that high-class food is a nationwide phenomenon now, not just an exclusive experience for London foodies. In fact, seven of The Sunday Times top 100 are in Scotland.”
Top of the Popadoms!
Birmingham has imposed itself on the gastronomic map with three restaurants in the The Sunday Times Food List’s top 50. A new entry this year is Indian eatery Lasan – the first Asian restaurant outside the capital to make it into the list. Birmingham-born restaurateur Akhtar Islam, who is 32, takes inspiration from the classics of the Mughal Palace as well as the street dishes found in the subcontinent. Diners described his food as “brilliant and unusual”. Asian restaurants as a whole have staged a comeback this year, with 18 Japanese, Chinese or Indian establishments on the list against ten in 2011.
The Price is Right?
The average price of a meal at Lasan is £74, which is in stark contrast with the most expensive restaurant on The Sunday Times Food List, Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray (£221 – although it must be noted that this is for the non-optional eight-course tasting menu). Bray is also home to the second most expensive establishment on the list, The Waterside Inn (£182), whereas Whitstable in Kent boasts the second and third cheapest in the top 100 (Wheeler’s Oyster Bar at £44 and The Sportsman at £49).
Now in its third year, The Sunday Times Food List is compiled in collaboration with Harden’s, whose own restaurant guides base their ratings on the views of diners who eat out regularly. Rankings are based on the food the restaurant serves, though the ratings for ambience are used in the event of a tie.
The full 2012 Sunday Times Food List, listing the top 100 restaurants in Britain, will be published in The Sunday Times on October 28. This, together with the next 100 rated restaurants, will also appear online on Sunday October 28 at
thesundaytimes.co.uk/thefoodlist
The list will be fully interactive on both iPad and online.
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