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Harden's Say These Are The Uk's Best Restaurants

thom

By thom
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining

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thom

thom

Posted
Posted

Just posted this on 'Food, media and news' by accident. I suppose it is relevent to both but I meant it to be on here. Does one thread need deleting Mr/Ms adminstrator?

Anyway, here's the post...

All,

Harden's restaurant guide have sneaked out a press release to promote there up and coming 2003 UK edition.

According to their survey results, the UK's top ten restaurants are:

1. Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire

2. Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea, London

3. La Terrasse, Sandgate, Kent

4. Monsieur Max, Hampton Hill, London

5. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire

6. Restaurant One-O-One, Knightsbridge, London

7. Merchant House, Ludlow, Shropshire

8= Michael’s Nook, Grasmere, Cumbria

8= Old Chesil Rectory, Winchester, Hampshire

10. Northcote Manor, Langho, Lancashire

The full article is on http://www.caterer.com/news/articledetail....articleID=45795

(much as it pains me to namecheck Caterer). Interestingly, it seems two of the restaurants that made the list have closed and one has been put up for sale. Anyway,

vitriolic disagreements on a postcard to the usual address please...

Much as I hate to fly in the face of popular egullet opinion (yeah...) I find Harden's restaurant guides very useful (as a quick reference guide whilst trying to pin down the nearest decent lunch), and relatively accurate.

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

Posted
Posted

It strikes me as an odd list, but obviously a reflection of where Harden's contributors have been eating out. Has anyone eaten at Restaurant One - 0 - One? I've never been tempted I have to say, odd location and very open, like eating in a goldfish bowl I would have thought (you can view the interior here http://www.toptable.co.uk/Details.cfm?rcode=OOSH#).

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mogsob

mogsob

Posted
Posted

I have never been to Restaurant One-o-One, but I have often been tempted to go. I have heard great things about their saltbaked fish, a preparation I really like but cannot often find.

I have not been to date due to price considerations, but it is significantly less expensive than the other London restaurants on that list.

Might be part of my new year's dining resolutions.

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Paul Bell

Paul Bell

Posted
Posted

It is one of those London restaurants (Tante Claire, Pied a Terre) that I will probably never get around to going to. The menu always looks really good, its got Fish Soup :rolleyes: . But the room is rather strange and I really do not have any sort of feel for how good it is.

Paul

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thom

thom

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I have to admit I had never even heard of Restaurant One-o-One.

I only hope the food is much, much better than their taste in carpets (80's style airport chic); see Andy's useful link to Toptable for all the gory details...

Nice to see Northcote Manor on there, and I would imagine the current groundswell of popular opinion may push Juniper and Hibiscus up there for next year.

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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Tonyfinch

Tonyfinch

Posted
Posted

I've only eaten at one on the list (Le Manoir), but there's four I've never even heard of. I know I'm London biased but I'd've thought I would have at least HEARD of four of the best ten restaurants in the country.

Or are they very famous and I just don't know about them (Le Terrasse, Michael's Nook, Old Chesil Rectory, Northcote Manor) ?

I don't recall any of them being mentioned on e Gullet.

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thom

thom

Posted
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Posted

Nortcote Manor may still be a bit of a North West thing.

It's in Langho (near Blackburn) in the wilds of Lancashire, and the chef/propreitor is the very well respected Nigel Howarth. It's been around for 20 years and is set in an Edwardian County House hotel; the menu and ambience are very much as such a venue would suggest. It's also famed for its wonderful countryside setting and it's focus on local produce, including a Lancashire cheese ice cream.

I must admit I haven't eaten there myself, but I did eat in the temporary restaurant they ran at the 'Restaurant and Bar Manchester' exhibition that was here in the rainy city the year before last. The food was actually very good indeed, moreso considering the limitations of working out of a makeshift kitchen.

The Ops Director of our Restaurant group (Individual Restaurants) is a ex chef (he's worked in 5 star Kitchens on every continent except Antartica I think...); he speaks very highly of Nigel and I respect his opinion.

It's always in the Good Food Guide (a excellent '6' this year), gets a star in Michelin, and a top rated '2 stars' in last years Hardens.

It's one of those places that has been on my 'must go to' list for ages, but if I haven't made it the 20 miles or so to Langho I can't blame you Londoners for having missed it.

I have entirely missed the other three that Tony mentioned.

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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thom

thom

Posted
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Posted

And the sad thing is, it took ages to come up with...

We were uncomfortable with the fact that the all restaurants (well, 5 at the time) within the company were very different (menus, sites, decor etc) so the end result was 'The Individual Restaurant Company'.

There's even a tagline, 'Always individual, consistently unique'. Kind of like a less neat version of Marks and Spencers 'Exclusively for everyone'.

If you are so inclined you can check out the website at http://www.individualrestaurants.co.uk. The last opening was the Marlow Bar and Grill (In Marlow, funnily enough) and a new restaurant will open in January in the old Fish site in central Manchester.

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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thom

thom

Posted
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I kind of like your slogan better Andy, but hey, if you don't ask you don't get.

Obviously the latter is one of the tenets on which my life is built.

Could you lend me a tenner till Monday?

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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Bapi

Bapi

Posted
Posted
I have to admit I had never even heard of Restaurant One-o-One.

I only hope the food is much, much better than their taste in carpets (80's style airport chic); see Andy's useful link to Toptable for all the gory details...

Nice to see Northcote Manor on there, and I would imagine the current groundswell of popular opinion may push Juniper and Hibiscus up there for next year.

Cheers

Thom

This event at Northcote manor certainly looks interesting for those of you in the North. Thom are you likely to go? See link here

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/nl185.htm

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thom

thom

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Bapi,

Thanks for that, it looks like an incredible line up. If you had to pick a night with one of the listed chefs (not in the biblical sense) who would your choice be? Heston (because I have not yet made it to Bray yet) or Philip Howard would probably get my nod.

I had been planning a weekend away over the next month or so. My regular pilgrimage to Ludlow had been favourite, but Langho may have now pushed to the front of the queue. Then again, with my post-Christmas regime of financial austerity, I should really be eating out less and cooking more.

Damn my extravagent spending, looks like I'm going to have to sell another kidney...

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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