National Restaurant Awards 2024: The Ledbury named as UK's best, and Michel Roux Jr honoured
The Ledbury in Notting Hill has been named as the UK’s best restaurant at a prestigious awards ceremony, marking the fourth time it has secured the honour.
Brett Graham’s restaurant, which holds three Michelin stars, took the number one spot at tonight’s National Restaurant Awards (NRAs), an annual list voted for by key industry figures. The nod came 12 years after the Ledbury last topped the list, in 2012, having also done so in 2011 and 2010.
It marks something of a comeback for the Ledbury, which closed in 2020, initially with no plans to reopen, before being revived in 2022. The restaurant is known for its precise, technical approach to cooking, offering a fine-dining experience at the highest level.
“Brett Graham leads by example in the kitchen and is one of the hardest working chefs cooking at this level in the country,” said Stefan Chomka, editor of Restaurant magazine, which is behind the awards. “The Ledbury is revered for its produce-led dishes that arrive strikingly plated but also for the refreshing down-to-earth nature of its cooking, with the team always prioritising deliciousness over culinary showboating. It’s an outstanding restaurant, one that fully deserves to be recognised as the Best in the UK.”
Though the awards cover the entire country, it was London’s night, with 53 of the 100 restaurants on the list in the capital. Seven out of the top 10 are also in the city: the number two spot was taken by Tomos Parry’s Mountain, barely a year after it opened (the Standard’s Jimi Famurewa gave it five stars). Henry Harris’s Bouchon Racine claimed fourth (another five stars), while Thai favourite and former NRA winner Kiln — which is operated by Brian Hannon and Ben Chapman’s Super 8 group, who are also behind Mountain — came in at number six. The other London restaurants in the top 10 were Da Terra (7), The Devonshire (9) and Ikoyi (10).
Interestingly, while the World’s 50 Best restaurants named Santiago Lastra’s Kol as the UK’s best restaurant, it placed at number 49 on the NRA list.
The list will be a disappointment to some chefs: Gordon Ramsay’s three-starred flagship on Hospital Road came in at number 59, while neither Helene Darroze’s flagship at the Connaught and Alain Ducasse’s London home at the Dorchester — both of which are also three-starred — made the cut. Other notable absences include the three-star restaurant at Sketch, all of Tom Sellers’s places, and Tom Aikens’ Muse.
The National Restaurant Awards, which are voted for by more than 200 of the country’s top chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics, are considered to be a decent indicator of the UK’s dining scene, and a responsive one, changing significantly each year.
The 2024 list saw a number of new openings score highly: besides Mountain and the Devonshire (which was also named both opening of the year, the first time a pub has had the honour, and gastropub of the year), Claude Bosi did well, with Josephine Bouchon making 24 and his two-star Brooklands at 34. Kolae, which Jimi Famurewa gave five stars in November, came in at number 27, while Sune, which opened barely six months ago, placed at 87.
Other awards presented on the evening included a lifetime achievement award for Michel Roux Jr, a “chef of the year” title for Adejoké Bakare, and a “chef to watch” nod going to Akoko’s Ayo Adeyemi. Wine list of the year went to Trivet, while cocktail list of the year was picked up by the Dover.
The top 20 restaurants on the list is below, with London restaurants in bold. Visit nationalrestaurantawards.co.uk for the full results.
The Ledbury (read our review)
Mountain (read our review)
Moor Hall (read our review)
Bouchon Racine (read our review)
Ynyshir
Kiln
Da Terra
Opheem
The Devonshire (read our review)
Ikoyi
The Glenturret Lalique
Restaurant Pine
The Ritz
Mana
Endo at the Rotunda
Higher Ground
Myse
Kitchen Table
A. Wong
L'Enclume
