Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, Cornwall has taken the number one spot in the Good Food Guide 2018, after a perfect score of 10/10 for the second year running was enough to propel it to the top of the coveted rankings.
It’s the first time in five years that the guide, published by Waitrose, has announced a new number one, as the four-year reign of L’Enclume in Cumbria came to an end. L’Enclume still cooked up a score of 10/10 for its food – the only other restaurant in the guide to do so – and took second place.
London’s Pollen Street Social secured third spot, with Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottinghamshire fourth and The Fat Duck in Berkshire fifth.
Outlaw’s seafood restaurant is hailed by the guide for being “the whole package”, offering diners a menu carefully crafted around the freshest local seafood in a relaxed dining room with perfect service that “just happens in the most discreet and attentive way”.
Guide editor Elizabeth Carter said: “Nathan Outlaw’s food is characterised by the absolute freshness of ingredients and a clear sense of purpose. He has done an enormous amount to educate and encourage the public appetite for fish, driven by his supply of impeccably fine ingredients, and a special talent for creating unique and thrilling fish dishes. Moreover, nobody seems to leave Nathan Outlaw’s staff – they just go and work in another one of his restaurants. They obviously think he’s a pretty good boss as well as a fine chef.”
Outlaw, who opened the two-Michelin-star restaurant in 2007, added: “The award has come due to the hard work and dedication of our team who have now been working together for a decade. It just goes to show that if you stay true to yourself, get your head down, look after your customers and use the very best ingredients available to you, you’ll make it to the top.”
The Good Food Guide was first published in 1951 listing “600 places throughout Britain where you can rely on a good meal at a reasonable price”. It now lists 1,235 entries based on anonymous inspections, bolstered by feedback from readers which it says helps it to champion unusual eateries unlikely to be found in more conventional restaurant guides.
The Waitrose Good Food Guide 2017 Top 50 Restaurants
(cooking score out of 10 in brackets, previous position and score in square brackets)
1 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (10) [2016: 2nd, 10/10]
2 L’Enclume, Cumbria (10) [2016: 1st, 10/10]
3 Pollen Street Social, London (9) [2016: 4th, 9/10]
4 Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire (9) [2016: 3rd, 9/10]
5 The Fat Duck, Berkshire (9) [2016: 6th, 9/10]
6 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (9) [2016: 7th, 9/10]
7 Hedone, London (8) [2016: 8th, 8/10]
8 Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Tayside (8) [2016: 9th, 8/10]
9 Claude Bosi at Bibendum, London (8) New
10 Casamia, Bristol (8) [2016: 27th, 7/10]
11 Bohemia, Jersey (8) [2016: 24th, 7/10]
12 Ynyshir, Powys (8) [2016: 40th, 7/10]
13 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (8) [2016: 2th, 7/10]
14 Fraiche, Merseyside (8) [2016: 10th, 8/10]
15 Marcus, London (8) [2016: 17th, 8/10]
16 Le Champignon Sauvage, Glos (8) [2016: 13th, 8/10]
17 Adam Reid at The French, Manchester (8) [2016: 18th, 8/10]
18 The Ledbury, London (8) [2016: 11th, 8/10]
19 André Garrett at Cliveden, Berkshire (8) [2016: =]
20 Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire (8) [2016: 12th, 8/10]
21 Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London (8) [2016: 14th, 8/10]
22 The Peat Inn, Fife (8) [2016: 20th, 8/10]
23 The Kitchin, Edinburgh (7) [2016: =]
24 Sketch, Lecture Room & Library, London (7) [2016: 36th, 7/10]
25 The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye (7) New
26 Moor Hall, Lancashire (7) New
27 The Greenhouse, London (7) [2016: 25th, 7/10]
28 The Ritz, London (7) New
29 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh (7) [2016: 22nd, 7/10]
30 Forest Side, Cumbria (7) [2016: 37th, 7/10]
31 Orwells, Oxfordshire (7) [2016: 44th, 7/10]
32 Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Cornwall (7) [2016: 28th, 7/10]
33 Restaurant Marianne, London (7) [2016: 45th, 7/10]
34 The Waterside Inn, Berkshire (7) [2016: 26th, 7/10]
35 Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan (7) [2016: 34th, 7/10]
36 Artichoke, Buckinghamshire (7) [2016: 30th, 7/10]
37 The Raby Hunt, Durham (7) [2016: 42nd, 7/10]
38 Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire (7) [2016: 21st, 8/10]
39 Restaurant Story, London (7) [2016: 32nd, 7/10]
40 Simpsons, Birmingham (7) [2016: 35th, 7/10]
41 Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (7) [2016: 39th, 7/10]
42 The Sportsman, Kent (7) New
43 Adam’s, Birmingham (7) [2016: 41st, 7/10]
44 Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire (7) [2016: 43rd, 7/10]
45 Gidleigh Park, Devon (7) [2016: 33rd, 7/10]
46 Le Gavroche, London (7) [2016: 16th, 8/10]
47 Hambleton Hall, Rutland (7) [2016: 46th, 7/10]
48 Murano, London (7) [2016: 38th, 7/10]
49 The Whitebrook, Gwent (7) [2016: 47th, 7/10]
50 The Man Behind the Curtain, Leeds (7) New
