Harden's reveals 2021 London Restaurant Awards shortlist

Restaurant guide Harden’s has released its shortlist for the 2021 London Restaurant Awards.

The finalists are based on 30,000 nominations made by 3,000 restaurant-goers, with two places in each category reserved for venues that have opened in the last two to three years.

Those shortlisted for Top Gastronomic Experience, the most prestigious award’s category, include three-Michelin-starred Core by Clare Smyth, David Moore’s Pied à Terre, Tom Aiken’s Muse and Victor Garvey’s Sola restaurant in Soho.

Competing for Top Newcomer are Fenn in Fulham, Imogen Davis and Ivan Tisdall-Downes’ Native at Brown's hotel, Maison François in St James’ and Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki’s Korean-inspired Sollip.

An award for Outstanding Achievement in the restaurant trade is judged by the guide’s editors.

This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the Langham, London on 6 September.

Peter Harden, co-founder of Harden’s, said: “Over the last 18 months, London's restaurants and their chefs and backers have demonstrated in spades their huge creativity, resourcefulness and sheer entrepreneurialism in facing the disruption caused by the pandemic. We will be doing our utmost to recognise their successes.”

The full shortlist is as follows:

Top Gastronomic Experience

• Core by Clare Smyth, Notting Hill
• Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia
• Muse, Belgravia
• Sola, Soho

Top Newcomer

• Fenn, Fulham
• Native at Brown's, Mayfair
• Maison François, Marylebone
• Sollip, Southwark

Top Bar or Pub

• The Canton Arms, Stockwell
• The Eagle, Clerkenwell
• The Alma, Crystal Palace
• The Hunter’s Moon, South Kensington

Best for Business

• Galvin La Chapelle, Spitalfields
• Wiltons, St James's
• Noble Rot Soho
• Maison François, Marylebone

Best for Romance

• L'Escargot, Soho
• Café du Marché, Clerkenwell
• NoMad London, Covent Garden
• Behind, Hackney

Wine List of the Year

• Medlar, Chelsea
• Andrew Edmunds, Soho
• Noble Rot Soho
• Trivet, Southwark

Best Afternoon Tea

• The Thames Foyer at the Savoy, Covent Garden
• The Wolseley, Mayfair
• The Lanesborough, Knightsbridge
• 116 at the Athenaeum Hotel & Residences, Mayfair

Best Vegan or Vegetarian

• The Gate, Hammersmith
• Amrutha, Wandsworth
• 123V, Mayfair
• Club Mexicana Taqueria, Westminster

Best Breakfast or Brunch

• The Delaunay, Covent Garden
• Greenberry Café, Primrose Hill
• Buvette, Kensington and Chelsea,
• Sam's Café, Primrose Hill

Best Fish and Seafood

• Raw, Fitzrovia
• Behind, Hackney
• Lyons Seafood & Wine Bar, Crouch End
• The Melusine, St Katharine Dock

Best Steaks and Grills

• Blacklock, Soho
• Smokehouse Islington
• Lurra, Marble Arch
• Zoilo, Marylebone

Best Coffee House

• Bar Italia, Soho
• Ginger & White, Hampstead
• Kiss the Hippo, Richmond upon Thames
• Tamp Coffee, Chiswick

Top Cheap Eat

• Lina Stores, King's Cross
• Silk Road, Camberwell
• Vardo, Kensington and Chelsea
• Coqfighter, Soho

Best Street Food

• Bob’s Lobster, Southwark
• Dumpling Shack x Fen Noodles, Tower Hamlets
• Mama's Jerk, Hackney
• Mei Mei, Borough