A restaurant with rooms hidden close to the coast and among the woods in mid-Wales has been named as the country’s best.
Close by market town Machynlleth, Ynyshir — pronounced inis-heer — came out on top at this year’s National Restaurant Awards, which returned to the Hurlingham Club for a lively celebration of the country’s best food and drink. Last year Ynyshir placed at number 15.
The result is another win in a big year for Ynyshir; in February it was awarded its second Michelin star, making it the only Welsh restaurant in history to be awarded the honour. Its win at the NRAs — which this year were dominated by London restaurants — was record-setting in its way, too; in the 16 years the awards have been running, no restaurant outside England has made it to the top of the list before.
It is another affirmation of the remarkable turnaround achieved by head chef Gareth Ward, whose once-fearsome leadership reportedly left him having to manage a service single-handedly sometime around 2014, after his entire team quit in protest at his temper. Since then, it has become one of the UK’s most in-demand destination restaurants. It serves a £350-a-head menu that can run to 30 courses, each tiny and influenced in part by Japanese cooking. A meal in Ward’s dining room typically takes between four and five hours to complete.
“What Gareth Ward has done at Ynyshir is remarkable,” said Stefan Chomka, editor of Restaurant by BigHospitality, the publication behind the awards. “Taking on a restaurant located in a traditional country house hotel and putting such a personal and edgy stamp on it was a bold, brave move — a real statement of intent — but one that has really paid off.
“Ynyshir is without doubt one of the most unique and exciting places to eat in the UK at the moment, possibly in the world, and is a very worthy winner of this year’s awards. Congratulations to Gareth and the team.”
The list, though, favours London. Seven of the top 10 restaurants are here, while overall, of the 100 strong list, 60 are in the capital.
While Cumbria’s Moor Hall, named England’s best restaurant, came in at number two — down from the top spot, which it’s held for the past two years — number three was claimed by perennial Shoreditch favourite Brat, with the Ritz placing fourth, moving an entire 40 places up the list from last year. The Ritz also picked up the service award, while head chef Spencer Metzger won the chef to watch award.
BiBi, the critically-adored Indian from Chet Sharma, took the number five spot. It is something of an extraordinary achievement for Sharma and his team, given Bibi is new, having opened towards the end of 2021. It was named opening of the year at the awards.
Other London restaurants in the top 10 included the recently-revived Ledbury (six), A Wong (seven, no change from last year), Core by Clare Smyth (eight, down from three last year), and Ikoyi (nine up from 22). Interestingly, given Michelin regularly are criticised for being out of touch, all of these bar the Ledbury have at least one star; the Ledbury lost the two it had as it closed for the duration of the pandemic.
Other big London names on the list include Sabor (15, down from six), Kol (20, up from 33), Claude Bosi at Bibendum (29, up from 37) and the Guinea Grill (42, up from 46).
Elsewhere, long-standing Fulham favourite the River Café came in at 26, with owner Ruth Rogers winning the lifetime achievement award.
“Ruth Rogers is one of those rare professional chefs that transcend the world of cooking and give it a more human, personal element,” said Chomka. “The River Café celebrates its 35th birthday this year and has played a pivotal role in bringing London’s culinary scene up from the doldrums to what it is today. Its influence cannot be overstated.”
In her acceptance speech, a visibly emotional Rogers told the assembled crowd that it was time to champion the hospitality industry, while also stressing the importance of increased respect in kitchens. “Treat your staff well,” she counselled.
The National Restaurant Awards are voted for by more than 200 of the country’s top chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics and are broadly considered to be a decent indicator of the UK’s dining scene. Interestingly, results often differ dramatically year to year, which is true of the 2022 list. The most notable changes include Mere, which last year placed at number nine but this year hasn’t made the list at all; likewise last year’s number 19, York’s Skosh, is no longer on the list, and neither is the White Swan at Fence (last year’s 36), Freemasons At Wiswell (last year’s 38), Hrishi (last year’s 39), Fraiche (last year’s 43) and a small handful of others. Perhaps most notably, the Hand and Flowers, which is run and owned by Tom Kerridge, is no longer on the list. Though it placed towards the latter end of the list in 2021, at number 79, it is notable for being the country’s only pub with two Michelin stars.
Conversely, there are a number of restaurants either new to the list or which have jumped up significantly. Manteca, the Italian on Curtain Road, leapt a remarkable 84 places, up to number 11 from 2021’s placing at 95, while Fallow — absent last year — came in at number 13.
The top 20 is below, with London entries in bold. Visit nationalrestaurantawards.co.uk for the full list.
- Ynyshir
- Moor Hall
- Brat
- The Ritz
- BiBi
- The Ledbury
- A Wong
- Core by Clare Smyth
- Ikoyi
- L’Enclume
- Manteca
- The Angel at Hetton
- Fallow
- House of Tides
- Sabor
- Perilla
- The Fordwich Arms
- Da Terra
- Kiln
- KOL
Elsewhere, Nuno Mendes’ Lisboeta, which opened earlier this year, was named as “one to watch”. Other honours included the sustainability award, won by Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In; the wine list of year, picked up by Noble Rot Soho; the cocktail list of the year, claimed by Kol; and the chef of the year, which went to Simon Rogan, who among others runs Aulis in Soho.
