Two very different lists of the UK's top restaurants have just been published, but both have their flaws.
Announcing that particular restaurants have been voted the UK’s best is always going to cause debate.
This week two very different groups of critics – the authors of the Michelin Guide and the reviews website Qype – have nominated their contenders for the top eateries in our cities.
First out was the latest Michelin Main Cities of Europe guide - the slimmer companion to the main annual survey.
It awards three stars to two UK restaurants, both in London: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
But its publication comes a few weeks after Skye Gyngell announced she was leaving the Petersham Nurseries restaurant because of the “curse” of having a Michelin star. Gyngell said complaints at the restaurant had escalated since the award: “People have certain expectations of a Michelin restaurant but we don’t have cloths on the tables and the service isn’t very formal. You know, if you’re used to eating at Marcus Wareing then they feel let down when they come here.”
Service over style?
Meanwhile, Qype published its shortlist for its Restaurant of the Year, which is based on comments and reviews posted on the site.
The list includes seven London restaurants, but none of them are likely to feature in the Michelin Guide. There’s the Covent Garden branch of 2005 MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers’ Mexican chain Wahaca, Camden’s Gilgamesh and Indian tapas joint Imli.
Outside the English capital, Cardiff’s Mediterranean Puccini, Brighton’s vegetarian Terre a Terre and Vittorias Family Restaurant in Edinburgh have been nominated.
It’s a curious list, especially when many of the restaurants only get a four star (out of five) rating. Doubly so when just a cursory couple of minutes looking at the entries for Heston Blumenthal’s Hinds Head in Bray or two Michelin-starred Le Gavroche in London reveals that they both get maximum scores. Although, admittedly, they both have far fewer reviews than the 10 shortlisted establishments.
So what is the abiding quality shortlisted restaurants need to have? “We will be celebrating the businesses that have made the greatest positive impact on their customers in the last year,” says Qype’s Richard Dennys.
So you can have great food but annoy people with your décor and service. Or you can have good food but really score when it comes to service.
All of which leads me to conclude that, as there isn't a definitive restaurant experience, there actually isn’t a definitive best restaurant list either.
Do you pay any attention to 'best of' lists and restaurant guides? Or do you have a different way of researching places to eat? Share your thoughts in the Comments box below.
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