445 Best Restaurants in England

There’s always a satisfied hum in the air at this large, modern, and bustling bistro, part of a small chain, that’s close to the river. It’s French and the menu makes that known; olives from Provence, sausage from the Beaujolais region, pâtés, mussels in a Roquefort sauce, beef bourguignon, and rustic French cheeses all appear. Croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) is a popular lunchtime dish. Vegetarians and kids are well catered for, and the service is amicable and attentive.

The relatively short, perfectly balanced menu here showcases the creative contemporary French cooking of David Everitt-Matthias, who has run the restaurant with his wife, Helen, since 1987. The food is a favorite of the United Kingdom's most famous restaurant critics and includes delights such as chalk stream trout with oyster emulsion and miso glazed monkfish with barley broth and cockles. Fixed-price menus at lunchtime (£40 for 2 courses) help keep the cost down. 

This long-standing favorite specializes in French haute cuisine done right, with an emphasis on luxurious dishes like caviar, oysters, lobster, and Dover sole (served meunière) along with bistro classics like rabbit with mustard and steak frites. Standards, like the prices, remain high, and the swanky dining room takes inspiration from the art deco liner SS Normandie. Weather permitting, grab a table on the terrace to make the most of the wonderful views of the Thames, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. A weekday lunch/early-bird dinner set menu (two courses for £30; three courses for £35) lets you sample this expense-account favorite with minimal damage to your wallet.

This consistently popular, family-run, taverna-style restaurant has been serving local families and celebrities alike in its large, vine-decked premises for more than 40 years. Besides a large selection of Greek Cypriot small-dish meze dips, hot breads, and starters, there are rustic mains like moussaka or slow-baked kleftiko lamb in lemon as well as assorted grilled fish. Expect friendly Greek service and hospitality, plus an airy atrium in the back. Generous meze menus for two or more people are £36.75, and bargain weekday set lunches are £18.50.

Dazzling classic French dishes mark out Les 110 de Taillevent as the city's top French brasserie de luxe. Housed in a chic former Coutts bank on Cavendish Square, diners and oenophiles delight in the exquisite cuisine and accompanying master list of 110 fine wines by the glass. Indulge from Château Latour to rarely seen Rieslings, and be sure to pair wisely with the restaurant's flawless desserts. The six-course-tasting menu is relatively good value at £125 per person, with an option to add wine pairings. 

Excellent value, this low-key brasserie with tightly packed wooden tables relies exclusively on local produce for its Modern British dishes, all imaginatively prepared. The menu focuses on seafood, including oysters and Cromer crabs. Desserts are particularly good.

Part of Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton's dining dynasty, Little Social backs its elegant, modernist dining room with a menu of adventurous dishes celebrating the joy of British produce. Expect to find a range of prime cuts straight from the Josper grill, and pay special attention to the maple-glazed pork rib eye with charred cabbage and pomme puree.

Located on the northern stretch of Portobello Road, this quintessential neighborhood café specializes in delicious coffee, cakes, breakfast, and brunch, all served up on classic English crockery. Grab one of the window seats and watch Notting Hill wander by.

Located in a 19th-century market building, this food court brings together several casual dining experiences under one stunningly restored roof. Choose from sourdough pizza, ramen and bao, rare cuts of beef, tortillas, tacos, margaritas, and more—all to enjoy at long shared tables. There’s a similar venue, Market House, in the market town of Altrincham 8 miles southwest of Manchester city center, and another sister venue, Picturedrome, in Macclesfield just outside Greater Manchester in Cheshire.

This eccentric French pâtisserie (London's oldest) has been around since 1871. Not the finest coffee around, but a nice range of teas and glasses of wine, plus fab French cakes, tarts, and savory quiches more than make up for that.

Come here to stock up on delicious carry-out items for a picnic on nearby Clifton Down. There is some seating at the back, but most customers order a deli box (£9–£10), with selections ranging from meat or vegan sausage rolls to falafels, samosas, tortillas, and pasties. There are also soups, Scotch eggs, toasties, pies, and generous salads to choose from, not to mention cakes and pastries for dessert. You'll find it in the center of Clifton Village.

Tapping into Liverpool’s love affair with the sharing experience, this tiny bistro serves eclectic and inventive dishes with mainly Middle Eastern inspiration. The place—all bare bricks, upcycled furniture, and edgy artwork—takes its name from the Marais district of Paris, though it’s actually inspired more by the falafel joints of the French capital's less scenic Bastille district. There are two outposts at the Albert Dock and in the suburb of Allerton, plus a Maray in Manchester.

Across from Constable's school in Dedha, this friendly, 300-year-old pub serves traditional English fare and has five elegant guest rooms. The Ploughman's lunch (cheese, bread, salad, and pickles) and steak and chips share the menu with dishes like shrimp scampi.

Fabulous views over the rolling countryside of the Winster Valley to the east of Windermere enhance the Masons Arms, an old slate-floored, traditional inn serving local ales and good pub food. Mirrors and tankards decorate the walls, and there's a speciality gin list as well as a menu showcasing the best local ingredients. Favorite dishes include slow-cooked pork belly, Cartmel lamb with a rosemary and garlic mash, and a particularly good glazed ham hock to share. In winter there's an open log fire; in summer outdoor seating beckons. Five suites and two cottages provide stylish places to sleep, should you wish to stay.

Matthew Colley is a charismatic chef who opened his own restaurant in 2001 to serve "retro classic" dishes to hungry Lake District walkers. He's passionate about local, artisanal produce and makes almost everything from scratch, including his own Cumbrian sausages. The early evening set menu is an exceptionally good value (three courses for £25 if you order before 7 pm); opt for the deep-fried brie, the Pollo Marsala with shallots, and whatever the special dessert of the day is. The atmosphere is warm, leaning towards lively on the weekends, and families are welcome. There's a separate children's menu.

There's energy and buzz, from both the diners and the cooks in the gleaming open kitchen, at this plate-glass-and-chrome eatery where late breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks are served with a smile. Light bites like buffalo mozzarella, hot-smoked salmon Niçoise, and deep-fried calamari with fennel salad are particularly tasty. You can also pick something up from their sister company, Corn Hall Deli, for a picnic.

Set in what was once a Victorian shop, this family-run restaurant uses locally sourced produce to create its seasonal, highly imaginative takes on Modern British cuisine. Selections include a girolle tartlet with barbecued sweetcorn and truffle, Yorkshire lamb in a Madeira jus, and confit carrots with sea buckthorn and cashews. Dishes are available as a five-course tasting menu at lunch and dinner, with a vegetarian version available (£96), or a three-course fixed-price dinner menu (£78). A 10-minute walk from Clifford's Tower, Melton's also has an offshoot French-influenced restaurant called The Chopping Block, on nearby Walmsgate and above a traditional bar called the Walmsgate Ale House, which specializes in local cask and keg beers.

In a town ready to burst with cream teas, it's a bit of a surprise to find an Indian restaurant, let alone such an exceptional one. Among the classics you'd expect from a curry house—from mild kormas to spicy madrases and jalfrezies (traditional curries made with chili and tomato)—are some finely executed specialties, including Nizami chicken (a fiery dish prepared with yogurt and fresh ginger) and tiger prawn bhuna (with ginger, garlic, and spring onion). The menu also contains regional specialties from Goa and Hyderabad.

Step away from the center of town to sample the ingenious cuisine that Michelin-trained chef Gordon Jones conjures up in his open kitchen. There is no set menu, but you choose between seven and nine courses and every dish will be a surprise; choices might include smoked eel with maple syrup and purple potatoes, a crisp haggis, roasted turbot with giant raisins and caper dressing, and blackberry sorbet with marinated cucumber. You can also choose a wine flight to accompany the tasting menus. The location is unprepossessing and the decor plain, enlivened by a few antlers and vials of oil, but the service is friendly and unstuffy; if you want to talk with the chef about your food, he will willingly do so. Book well in advance; lunch is easier to reserve than dinner.

Chef and restaurateur Michael Alexiou bought Woolmarket House in 1986 and transformed it into this charming restaurant serving traditional Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. The mezes and fresh seafood are particularly good, and there are seasonal daily specials. The atmosphere is laid-back and the service is friendly. There's also a B&B in the building. 

The snug bar and restaurant of this remote, peaceful, 17th-century pub make an excellent place to dine. Fine local meat goes into its famous savory pies—take your pick from the likes of wild boar and duckling—while the unfussy menu also features such staples as fish-and-chips, Whitby scampi, and lasagna with garlic bread. Two cottages are available for rent. The inn is 3½ miles east of Greenhead on the B6318.

Located 8 miles southwest of Guildford, just a short hop down the road from Waverley Abbey and roughly halfway between the Sculpture Park and Watts Gallery, this unusually handsome country pub is in an old water mill; you can still see the working water wheel in the lobby. The menu nicely balances British pub classics and more ambitious restaurant fare; expect to find fish-and-chips and burgers alongside pan-roasted sea bass and Devonshire crab on toast. The huge beer garden is an extremely popular spot when the weather's nice, and it's also the venue for occasional open-air theater performances by local groups. Look out for the cute (but slightly intimidating) flock of ducks that are not only well practiced at begging for crumbs but also will immediately pounce on any unattended meals.

On the outskirts of town, in a Victorian textile mill that's been transformed into a live-and-work complex for artists, this family-friendly, café-cum-coffee shop has been winning fans with all-day healthy breakfast and brunch dishes like a veggie version of a Full English (smashed avocado, Halloumi, egg, beans, tomatoes, and toast) as well as breads, cakes, and pastries baked fresh on-site. When you've finished eating, check out the exhibitions in the complex's 3,500-square-foot art gallery. Buses 16 and 508 can get you here from the center.

As the name suggests, The Monocle Café isn't quite a restaurant, but thanks to its sheer weight of personality, it still lends itself as an important Marylebone food stop. Salads, bagels, open sandwiches, and breakfasts represent a diverse menu of international bites that can always be accompanied by something from the drink menu, whether that's artisan coffee or something stronger like the yuzu gin and tonic. As one would expect from Monocle magazine's very own drinking and dining spot, both the interior and exterior are impeccably tasteful, making for the ideal place to pause and soak up the Marylebone neighborhood.

Small but sleek, this restaurant with an open fire and artfully battered floorboards has won a good local reputation for high-quality dishes. The vegetarian selections are always worthwhile, and chefs Gaetano Zito and Antonio Giordano work hard to bring a Mediterranean flourish, including homemade pastas, to the Lakes. The Express Lunch is an especially good value.

Exmouth Market today is a magnet for fine indie-spirited restaurants and it all began with this one back in 1997. Lovingly nurtured by husband-and-wife chefs Sam and Sam Clark, the menu features a mélange of Spanish and Moroccan dishes, all packed with flavor and perfectly seasoned and spiced. From vegetable mezze like baba ganoush eggplant dip, Syrian lentils, and okra with pomegranate molasses to wood-roasted sea bass with kale puree, crispy pancetta, and corn migas (an egg-base, spicy Mexican scramble), your biggest problem will be deciding what to have.

Here chef Anna Haugh showcases the produce and food of her native Ireland while elevating its traditional cuisine to the level of fine dining. The small selection of à la carte dishes includes a mushroom and lentil pie with a warm vegetarian salad, venison loin in a port sauce with braised kale, or Irish Carlingford oysters. There are also six- and eight-course tasting menus. Service is attentive and it is clear the staff really cares about the food.

At plant-based Nessa, you'll find convincing celeriac carbonara, courgette cannelloni, and remarkable pumpkin-and-spelt risotto in the appealing modern ground-floor salon space. The attractive open kitchen dining room is all greens, oranges, toffees, and trailing plants, and has become a handy all-day upmarket bistrot/hang-out spot. Book ahead for the buzzy weekend brunches, which are a blizzard of sausage egg muffins, malt pancakes, campfire beans on toast, and epic slabs of banana French toast. 

This book-lined, below-ground bar–restaurant serves well-crafted pizzas, homemade burgers, and superior pub grub like steak-and-ale pie or haddock and chips. There's a quiz night on Wednesday and a DJ on Friday and Saturday.