The top entries and award winners from the 2017 Good Food Guide are revealed today.
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Tayside, is the top Scottish restaurant (ranked 9 overall), one of five in the GFG’s Top 50
Aizle, Edinburgh, a new entry to the guide, has been praised for sustainability and its use of seasonal and local ingredients
Inver, Strachur, another new entry, was singled out for its use of heritage ingredients and its reliance on local resources in a remote area
Number of Glasgow entries has almost doubled this year
The Good Food Guide (GFG), owned by Waitrose, is a guide to the very best restaurants and eateries across Britain. Highly regarded by both chefs and restaurant-goers, the GFG has announced its Top 50 restaurants of the year.
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles is crowned Scotland’s top-scoring eatery, ranking at number 9 in the UK-wide list.
Scotland also receives a new entry to the Top 50, with Castle Terrace in Edinburgh, run by chef-patron Dominic Jack, featuring at number 22.
The Peat Inn in Fife (ranked 20 with a cooking score of 8), along with Tom Kitchin’s eponymous Kitchin (ranked 23) and Restaurant Martin Wishart (ranked 39), all make the coveted Top 50 list.
Speaking about Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Elizabeth Carter, Waitrose Good Food Guide Editor, says, “Unimpeachable ingredients are at the heart of Fairlie’s culinary endeavours, from the Gartmorn Farm duck served with ceps to the seasonal pickings from his flourishing two-acre garden (some ten miles away). At the stoves, he’s a master technician, eloquently schooled in the refined traditions of French haute cuisine, but applying a modern sensibility to dishes that always feel newly minted.”
The Top 50 recognises the very best talent in the UK; a place on the list represents a huge achievement, with each position earned by its score in The Good Food Guide, editor appraisal, anonymous expert inspections and strength of reader feedback.
Among the best new entries are Aizle in Edinburgh; Birlinn on Isle of Skye; Eusebi Deli in Glasgow and North Port in Perth.
Glasgow has almost doubled its number of entries in the GFG this year, moving from seven entries last year to 13 in 2017. Says Carter, “the redevelopment of the Finnieston dockyards and warehouses has helped to give a real boost to the Glaswegian dining scene, with many of the new venues offering a distinctly urban, modern approach, including stripped-back decor and small-plate concepts.”
Singled out for praise in the Longest Serving category, are Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow, which has been featured consistently in the guide for 45 years; Airds Hotel, Argyll & Bute, 41 years; Ostlers Close, Fife, 34 years; The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye, 31 years and Crannog, Fort William, 27 years.
The top restaurant in the whole of the UK this year is L’Enclume in Cumbria, which scored a perfect 10 and kept the number one spot for the fourth year running.
The GFG, along with its team of anonymous inspectors and loyal readers, has also uncovered a range of foodie finds in unconventional settings and structures.
There are three restaurants housed in shipping containers featuring in this year’s guide: Cook House in Newcastle, Craftworks Street Kitchen in Truro, Cornwall and Kricket in Brixton, London. Then there’s a “modern marvel” in a service station: Gloucester Services on the M5 is an “independently run motorway pit-stop” with a gourmet café that is “committed to locally sourced food”.
“With an army of Good Food Guide readers on the ground and our inspectors scouring the length and breadth of the UK, we check out as many recommendations as we can to make sure that no stone is unturned and no good eating opportunity missed; and this year we’ve found some excellent cooking in some very unexpected places, giving even greater choice to our readers.”
Just Desserts
For some, dessert is the best course on the menu and for the first time the GFG has revealed where the nation can tuck into the very best puddings.
Top recommendations were awarded to the North of the Border Tart, which can be found at The Whitehouse, Lochaline, also winner of Scotland’s Local Restaurant of the Year. The tart is “filled with dried fruits, cherries, nuts and whisky. Nothing fancy, no towers, or twirls or crisps, just a really comforting pud.”
Congratulations to everyone!