Each year, the National Restaurant Awards brings together a panel of more than 200 food writers, chefs and restaurateurs to pick out the best of the best of the country’s cuisine.
Splitting the UK into 11 separate regions, the judges nominate the top seven restaurants they’ve dined in over a 12-month period. The result is a list of 100 eateries deemed to be the dining darlings of that annum.
And, as of earlier this week, the 2026 results are in. Unsurprisingly, London dominated the national list. More than 50 of the 100 best restaurants – plus more than half of the top 10 – resided inside the M25. The Ritz, last year’s champion, dropped a place in 2026 to tie second with Bruton’s Osip, which rose to silver-medal status from eighth place in 2025.
As for this year’s podium-topper, that ultimate accolade went to French resto Bouchon Racine, the brainchild of London food don Henry Harris, which previously held fifth place on the list.
So what makes Bouchon Racine’s cuisine so prize-worthy? Well, Time Out food & drink editor Leonie Cooper has tasted its fancy fare first hand and says:
‘Stepping into fantastic French restaurant Bouchon Racine is a bit like walking into a particularly overwrought Graham Green novel, in that it looks and feels like an antique 1940s parlour and the weight of expectation is thrillingly heavy. But the food is about as un-English as you can get; veal chop with Roquefort butter, honking andouillette sausage, and boudin blanc with wild mushrooms. I’d eat there weekly, were it not such a palaver to get a table,’ she said of her experience at the Farringdon bistro.
A few months after it opened in late 2022, Time Out reviewer Anna Sulan Masing gave the restaurant a glowing five star review, saying: ‘Although Farringdon is more of a business hub than a neighbourhood, Bouchon Racine manages to cultivate the feeling of a second home. The word ‘restaurant’ comes from the French verb to restore; it’s a perfect fit for Bouchon Racine – in its comforting food and charming service it feels utterly restorative.’
The top 10 restaurants in the UK, according to the 2026 National Restaurant Awards
- Bouchon Racine, London
- Osip, Bruton / The Ritz, London
- Dorian, London
- The Ledbury, London
- Moor Hall, Aughton
- Ynyshir, Ceredigion
- Mountain, London
- Trinity, London
- Woven by Adam Smith, Ascot
- Legado, London
To see the full list of all 100 restaurants, click here.
The best restaurants in London, according to Time Out.
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