Tallow in Kent tops Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants list

A neighbourhood restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells has topped the Good Food Guide's list of Britain's 100 Best Local Restaurants.

Tallow in Kent was named the overall Best Local Restaurant by the guidebook.

The Caterer visited Tallow at the end of 2021, where chef Rob Taylor’s monthly changing menus saw him showcase produce at its peak, using familiar flavour pairings intensified through technique.

Regional winners in the list include Les 2 Garçons in London, the Sparrows in the north-west, Homestead Kitchen in the north-east, the Kinneuchar Inn in Scotland, Seasonality in the south-east, Wild Artichokes in the south-west, Rocket & Rye in Wales and Tropea in central and the east of England.

The list features restaurants from city centre locations , as well as suburban and rural offerings. It was collated from over 37,000 public nominations, with all of the listed restaurants inspected by Good Food Guide inspectors.

“Tallow stood out, head and shoulders above what is a very strong list this year. For a chef of this quality to be so happily focused on running a neighbourhood restaurant is extraordinary,” said the Good Food Guide’s Editor, Elizabeth Carter.

“There's a level of commitment here that would sit happily in many top restaurants. Everything is beautifully thought through, from food you really want to eat – delicious, simple, seasonal – to the remarkably at-ease service and the care of customers.”

Tallow co-owner, Donna Taylor, added: “What an unexpected and humbling acknowledgement for the whole team at Tallow, and such a privilege to be considered alongside restaurants we love and respect. We’re incredibly proud to receive confirmation from our guests that Tallow has become what we had hoped, an accessible, relaxed dining experience that they wish to enjoy over and over again.”

The full list of restaurants – regional winners are the first in each list:

Central & East of England

Tropea, West Midlands

Watson and Walpole, Suffolk

Chapter, West Midlands

Brix & Bones, Norfolk

Stiffkey Red Lion, Norfolk

Fancett's Bistro, Cambridgeshire

The Kilpeck Inn, Herefordshire

Hitchen's Barn, Rutland

Lark, Suffolk

The Silver Cup, Hertfordshire

London

Les 2 Garçons, London

Copper & Ink, London

Sam's Riverside, London

The Holland, London

Giulia, London

Akub Restaurant, London

Hawthorn, London

Church Road, London

North East

Homestead Kitchen, North Yorkshire

The Hispanist, East Yorkshire

Hearth, East Yorkshire

Ophelia, Tyne & Wear

Coin, West Yorkshire

Brooks, West Yorkshire

Long Friday, Tyne & Wear

The Orange Bird, South Yorkshire

Bantam, North Yorkshire

Hinnies, Tyne & Wear

Tonco, South Yorkshire

Hern, West Yorkshire

North West

The Spärrows, Greater Manchester

Four & Twenty, Cumbria

Belzan, Merseyside

10 Tib Lane, Greater Manchester

The Yan, Cumbria

Edinburgh Castle, Greater Manchester

Another Hand, Greater Manchester

Covino, Cheshire

The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman's Rest, Cumbria

Parkers Arms, Lancashire

Bombay to Mumbai, Greater Manchester

The Nag's Head, Cheshire

The White Horse, Cheshire

Lily's Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Greater Manchester

Kysty, Cumbria

Higher Ground, Greater Manchester

Scotland

The Kinneuchar Inn, Fife

The Loveable Rogue, Strathclyde

Celentano's, Strathclyd

Bar Brett, Strathclyde

Eighty Eight, Strathclyde

The Palmerston, Lothians

L'Escargot Bleu, Lothians

Ga Ga Kitchen & Bar, Strathclyde

Gloriosa,Strathclyde

Eusebi Deli, Strathclyde

The Oystercatcher, Argyll & Bute

The Dory Bistro, Fife

The Galleon Bistro, Highlands & Islands

KORA by Tom Kitchin, Lothians

The Bothy, Moray

South East

Tallow, Kent - (Overall winner)

Seasonality, Berkshire (South-east regional winner)

The Greyhound, Buckinghamshire

The Dew Drop Inn, Berkshire

Samphire, Kent

Five Little Pigs, Oxfordshire

Quince, Kent

The Victoria Oxshott, Surrey

The Pilgrim, Buckinghamshire

Palmito, West Sussex

The Purefoy Arms, Hampshire

Pompette, Oxfordshire

The Folkestone Wine Company, Kent

The Goods Shed, Kent

Fourth and Church, East Sussex

South West

Wild Artichokes, Devon

Sonny Stores, Bristol

Pythouse Kitchen Garden, Wiltshire

The Greenhouse, Cornwall

Art Sushi, Dorset

Bank, Bristol

Little Hollows Pasta, Bristol

The Cotley Inn, Somerset

Iford Manor Cafe & Kitchen, Wiltshire

Caper and Cure, Bristol

Brassica, Dorset

Littlefrench, Bristol

The Rocket Store, Cornwall

Andria, Devon

Beckford Canteen, Somerset

The Exmoor Forest Inn, Somerset

The Halfway at Kineton, Gloucestershire

Wales

Rocket & Rye, Glamorgan

Y Polyn, Carmarthenshire

The Warren, Carmarthenshire

Heathcock, Glamorgan

Paternoster Farm, Pembrokeshire

The Black Bear Inn, Monmouthshire

Yr Hen Printworks, Ceredigion