Harden's reveals UK's top 100 restaurants

London's the Araki has topped the Harden's Best UK Restaurants 2018 list, published today.

In second place in the ranking, published independently of the Sunday Times for the first time, was Bristol's Casamia, while the Ledbury in London rounded out the top three.

The list is based on an annual poll of 8,500 diners, who between them contributed 50,000 reviews to Harden's.

The guide's editor Peter Harden said: "The same week that saw TripAdvisor crown a shed serving Iceland ready meals as London's top restaurant, saw our guide name the capital's the Araki as the UK's best. Both systems rely on user feedback but it is the careful collation of the Harden's survey that creates authoritative rankings."

Of the top 100, the split between London and non-London restaurants was exactly 50/50.

With the guide as a whole, Manchester had 66 entries, giving it the biggest number of entries outside of the capital. It has showed the fastest growth of "top scorers" (those rated either "excellent" at any price level or "very good" at over £60 a head). The city still lacks an entry in the top 100 though, with the closes being newcomer Where the Light Gets In in Stockport, which made it to 72.

Wales had a strong showing, with five restaurants in the top 100 (Gareth Ward at Ynyshir; Tyddyn Llan; Llangoed Hall; Restaurant James Sommerin; and The Whitebrook), as opposed to Scotland's six (Restaurant Martin Wishart; The Kitchin; Norn; Andrew Fairlie; The Three Chimneys; and the Peat Inn).

The UK's 100 Best Restaurants for 2018, as dictated by Harden's annual survey of diners:

1) The Araki, London
2) Casamia, the General, Bristol
3 The Ledbury, London
4) Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall
5) The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
6) Marianne, London
7) Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire
8) Black Swan, Oldstead
9) Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
10) The Clove Club, London
11) Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon
12) Fraiche, Oxton, the Wirral
13) Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
14) Ormer Mayfair, London
15) Gareth Ward at Ynyshir, Eglwys Fach, Powys
16) Sushi Tetsu, London
17) Story, London
18) L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
19) Yorke Arms, Ramsgill-in-Nidderdale, North Yorkshire
20) The Greenhouse, London
21) Midsummer House, Cambridge
22) Le Gavroche, London
23) Pied à Terre, London
24) Sketch, Lecture Room, London
25) Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
26) Umu, London
27) Bubbledogs, Kitchen Table, London
28) The Five Fields, London
29) Raby Hunt, Summerhouse, Darlington
30) Moor Hall, Aughton, Ormskirk
31) Bohemia, Jersey
32) Adam's, Birmingham
33) Texture, London
34) Estiatorio Milos, London
35) Andrew Fairlie, Auchterarder
36) Morston Hall, Morston, Norfolk
37) Hélène Darroze, London
38) Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire
39) The Box Tree, Ilkley, West Yorkshire
40) Le Cochon Aveugle, York
41) Pétrus, London
42) Hedone, London
43) Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Rutland
44) The Neptune, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk
45) The Ritz, London
46) Roux at Parliament Square, London
47) The Kitchin, Edinburgh
48) Murano, London
49) Llangoed Hall, Llyswen, Powys
50) Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Padstow, Cornwall
51) 108 Garage, London
52) Hakkasan Mayfair, London
53) Chez Bruce, London
54) Lympstone Manor, Exmouth, Devon
55) Jamavar, London
56) Hunan, London
57) The Forest Side, Grasmere, Cumbria
58) The Art School, Liverpool
59) André Garrett At Cliveden, Taplow, Berkshire
60) House of Tides, Newcastle upon Tyne
61) Artichoke, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
62) 5 North Street, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
63) Goodman City, London
64) Trishna, London
65) Wilks, Bristol
66) Norn, Edinburgh
67) One-O-One, London
68) The Three Chimneys, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye
69) Elystan Street, London
70) Typing Room, London
71) La Trompette, London
72) Where The Light Gets In, Stockport, Cheshire
73) The Man Behind The Curtain, Leeds
74) Restaurant James Sommerin, Penarth, Cardiff
75) Marcus, The Berkeley, London
76) The Whitebrook, Whitebrook, Monmouthshire
77) Pollen Street Social, London
78) Gauthier Soho, London
79) Zuma, London
80) La Petite Maison, London
81) Locanda Locatelli, London
82) Northcote, Langho, Lancashire
83) The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, Marlborough, Wiltshire
84) The Woodspeen, Newbury, Berkshire
85) The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
86) The Glasshouse, Kew, London
87) Wiltons, London
88) Purnells, Birmingham
89) Coya, London
90) La Dame de Pic London, London
91) Roka, London
92) Seafood Restaurant, Padstow, Cornwall
93) The Seahorse, Dartmouth, Devon
94) The Peat Inn, Cupar, Fife
95) Scott's, London
96) Stovell's, Chobham, Surrey
97) Trinity, London
98) Portland, London
99) Min Jiang, London
100) Medlar, London

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