National Restaurant Awards 2025: The Ritz named UK’s Best Restaurant

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The Ritz has been named the UK’s best restaurant at the 2025 National Restaurant Awards, confirming what most already suspected – that old-school glamour still packs a punch.

It comes just four months after John Williams MBE and his brigade were awarded a second Michelin star to a standing ovation in Glasgow. Now, the chef’s two-decade tenure at the hotel has culminated in a first-place finish at Restaurant magazine’s definitive industry ranking.

Williams has long been a champion of haute cuisine – the kind that arrives under silver cloches and takes its cues from Escoffier – and his kitchen’s commitment to the classics is finally being recognised at the very top of the list.

“As a bastion of fine French food served in unashamedly refined surroundings, The Ritz stands alone in the UK,” said Restaurant editor Stefan Chomka. “The top 100 restaurants list reflects the diverse nature of our eating out scene and the changing trends within it, whether they be less formality, more farm-to-fork menus, or embracing new cuisines, but it’s also wonderful to see a restaurant unwavering in its focus finally get the recognition it merits.”

The rest of the top 10 tells a similar story – of tasting menus, white tablecloths and grand ambitions. Moor Hall in West Lancashire takes second place, with chef Mark Birchall also named Chef of the Year after picking up a third Michelin star earlier this year. Brett Graham’s The Ledbury – a once-closed, now better-than-ever West London heavyweight – takes third.

David Carter, the restaurateur behind Smokestak and Manteca, is this year’s Restaurateur of the Year, with two restaurants on the list – AGORA (no 51) and OMA, a bold, breezy newcomer to Borough Market, which storms in at no 6 as the highest new entry.

Claude Bosi, meanwhile, becomes the only chef with three restaurants in the top 100: Brooklands at no 20, Josephine Bouchon at no 23 and, perhaps most notably, the return of Bibendum at no 39 – a quiet endorsement of the fact that French food, in all its Lyonnaise, bistronomic and haute forms, is once again en vogue.

Spring’s Skye Gyngell was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, not just for her contribution to the British culinary landscape but for doing it all while quietly battling – and overcoming – a rare form of skin cancer. Chef to Watch went to Aaron Potter of Wildflowers – his debut London restaurant in Belgravia, inspired by Mediterranean flavours and relaxed neighbourhood hospitality.

Elsewhere, there were farewells and flourishes. Lyle’s, which closed last month after 11 years of service in Shoreditch, soared 55 places up the list to land at no 21 – a final nod to James Lowe’s impact on the shape of London dining.

The capital, once again, dominates – 56 of the 100 restaurants are London-based, including seven of the top 10. But the list also stretches across the UK. The Muddlers Club in Belfast was named best in Northern Ireland, Ynyshir claimed the Welsh crown and Edinburgh’s Lyla – run by Stuart Ralston – topped the Scottish list.

This year’s winners were announced at a ceremony at The Magazine London on Monday 9 June. The full top 100, as voted for by chefs, restaurateurs and food writers across the country, can be found below or at nationalrestaurantawards.co.uk.

National Restaurant of the Year: The Ritz

Chef of the Year: Mark Birchall, Moor Hall

Restaurateur of the Year: David Carter

Highest New Entry: OMA

Lifetime Achievement Award: Skye Gyngell

Chef to Watch: Aaron Potter, Wildflowers

Best Restaurant in England: The Ritz

Best Restaurant in Scotland: Lyla

Best Restaurant in Wales: Ynyshir

Best Restaurant in Northern Ireland: The Muddlers Club

1. The Ritz
2. Moor Hall
3. The Ledbury
4. Trinity
5. Bouchon Racine
6. OMA
7. AngloThai
8. Osip
9. Ynyshir
10. Dorian
11. Mountain
12. The Devonshire
13. Kiln
14. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
15. Woven by Adam Smith
16. Ikoyi
17. Lyla
18. A Wong
19. Da Terra
20. Brooklands by Claude Bosi
21. Lyle’s
22. Kitchen Table
23. Josephine Bouchon
24. Endo at the Rotunda
25. Paul Ainsworth at No.6
26. Restaurant Pine
27. Canteen
28. The Unruly Pig
29. Sabor
30. Row on 5
31. Restaurant Sat Bains
32. BiBi
33. Kolae
34. The Sportsman
35. L’Enclume
36. Higher Ground
37. Camille
38. Core by Clare Smith
39. Claude Bosi at Bibendum
40. Chishuru
41. The Glenturret Lalique
42. Frog by Adam Handling
43. JÖRO
44. Grace & Savour
45. Updown Farmhouse
46. Dongnae
47. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
48. Opheem
49. Restaurant Interlude
50. KOL
51. AGORA
52. Akoko
53. Chez Bruce
54. Brat
55. The Forest Side
56. Gorse
57. Humble Chicken
58. Cornus
59. Morchella
60. Skof
61. Sollip
62. Cedar Tree by Hrishikesh Desai
63. Starling
64. Plates
65. Wilson’s
66. The Kinneuchar Inn
67. Solstice
68. Annwn
69. The Clove Club
70. Wildflowers
71. The French House
72. Mýse
73. Restaurant Hjem
74. Sola
75. The Angel at Hetton
76. The Muddlers Club
77. Heft
78. Inver
79. The Little Chartroom
80. The Fordwich Arms
81. The Black Swan at Oldstead
82. Upstairs by Tom Shepherd
83. The Grill by Tom Booton
84. Hide
85. The Parkers Arms
86. Solo
87. Fallow
88. Forge at Middleton Lodge
89. Lita
90. The Quality Chophouse
91. Planque
92. Gymkhana
93. Lisboeta
94. Crocadon
95. Luca
96. The Seahorse
97. The Palmerston
98. Trivet
99. St. JOHN
100. Maison Francois