If you’re visiting the UK and don’t venture beyond the capital, you’ll be missing out on some of the most innovative cooking anywhere in the world. From deep in the Kentish countryside to Edinburgh’s beating heart, discover eight outstanding restaurants that are very much worth travelling for
Gareth Ward's chilli crab is one of Ynyshir's signature dishes
1. Ynyshir, Machynlleth
@ynyshirrestaurant
Where is it? A three-hour drive from Cardiff
Wales may be the second-smallest nation in the UK, but getting to this restaurant with rooms is still a three-hour drive from Cardiff. But the journey through the bucolic Welsh countryside is all part of the experience, and the reward is an arresting, jet-black Victorian country manor converted into a temple to meat and fire.
In the kitchen is creative mastermind Gareth Ward, who has held the reins since 2017. His MO is simple: ‘fun dining, not fine dining.’ Across the 30-course, Asian-inspired tasting menu, expect all the finesse and ingredients of a world-leading kitchen, but delivered in a thoroughly unserious setting. His handiwork is best seen through dishes such as the signature Singaporean chili crab and char siu pork, followed by Ward’s take on the iconic Big Mac, made with A5 wagyu beef. Dinner is set to the thumping soundtrack of the resident DJ and illuminated by a glittering disco ball hanging overhead. There aren’t many, if any, restaurants in the UK like it.
Lyla's langoustine bite comes wrapped in a crisp pastry nest
2. Lyla, Edinburgh
@lylaedinburgh
Where is it? City centre
There are many reasons to go to Edinburgh, and its blooming restaurant scene holds much of the allure. Housed within a converted Georgian townhouse, Lyla opened its doors in 2023 as hospitality heavyweight Stuart Ralston’s fourth and flagship restaurant. Proceedings kick off in the upstairs drawing room, where ice-cold samphire martinis and beautifully presented canapés set the mood for the meal to come.
Downstairs in the dining room, Ralston’s 10-course tasting menu changes with the seasons, using the finest of the Scottish larder with a focus on seafood. Think bitesize pieces of Scottish langoustine wrapped in a crisp pastry nest, paired with burnt apple purée and sorrel, or delicate chawanmushi (savoury custard), topped with smoked trout charcuterie, cured in the drawing room’s dry-ager, confit potato, nori and purslane.
Osip makes the most of British produce with simple, elegant dishes (Image: Dave Watts)
3. Osip, Bruton
@osiprestaurant
Where is it? A one-hour drive from Bristol
From the outside, Bruton looks like your standard picture-perfect village in England’s rural West Country. But recent years have seen it transform into a hub for creatives and food lovers. Until mid-2024, Osip was attached to boutique hotel Number One Bruton in an understated building on the village’s high street. In August, it consciously uncoupled from the hotel and reopened five minutes down the road in larger, white-washed premises, reducing the distance of its farm-to-table offering from a short drive to a short stroll.
The new location manages to be simultaneously cosy and spacious, reflecting chef Merlin Lebron-Johnson’s typically understated style. On arrival, guests can enjoy a drink – such as barrel-aged Osip cider or a vivid green apple and sorrel juice – and the first selection of snacks in the bar area, before moving through to the dining room. The focus here is undoubtedly the calm and collected open kitchen, with huge windows offering a glorious view of the rolling Somerset countryside, where much of the produce comes from.
With no menu, you’re in the hands of Labron-Johnson and the professional yet relaxed team. As the weather and seasons are ever-changing, so too do the dishes, but expect courses such as an aerated courgette soup with gooseberry and crab served with a kohlrabi and lobster shiso roll, and churro with meadowsweet ice cream, blackberries and marigold.
Chef Aktar Islam is redefining the boundaries of modern Indian gastronomy (Image: Scott Rhodes)
4. Opheem, Birmingham
@opheemrestaurant
Where is it? City centre
In a city where great Indian restaurants are prevalent, Opheem brings something truly innovative to the table. Chef Aktar Islam opened this spot in 2018 as a celebration of British produce seen through the lens of India’s diverse culinary landscape. The 10-course menu is joyously unconventional (don’t expect big bowls of curries here) with each dish a masterclass in delivering the familiarity and comfort of Indian flavours in novel mediums.
Take its pau, for example, executed at Opheem as a cumin-infused milk loaf, topped with crispy onion pieces and served with moreish bhuna butter. The aloo tuk reframes the fried Sindhi snack with aachari pink fir potatoes with tamarind, topped with a delicate, deeply savoury foam and crispy rice puffs. It's clearly hitting all the right notes as the restaurant earned its first Michelin Star just one year after opening and became the first restaurant in the city ever to receive two in 2024.
Guests tour the kitchen garden as part of the dining experience at Moor Hall
5. Moor Hall, Aughton
@restaurantmoorhall
Where is it? A 30-minute drive from Liverpool
Liverpool is famous for many things, but food is not generally one of them (though the British slang term ‘scouser’ to refer to a Liverpudlian comes from the name of a historic local dish). Not far outside the city however, you’ll find a renovated country house turned restaurant-with-rooms Moor Hall, where Mark Birchall – former head chef at fellow northern culinary powerhouse L’Enclume – has created a gastronomic haven in the west Lancashire countryside.
The 12-plus course tasting menu is distinctly British, sourcing beef from Devon, mackerel from Cornwall and lobster from the north-east coast. It also gives more than a nod to Moor Hall’s distinctive milieu in the form of black pudding, home-grown vegetables of myriad variety and a riff on a local favourite, Ormskirk gingerbread. The exquisitely executed experience kicks off in the house’s elegant sitting room with a range of flavour-packed one-bite snacks, proceeds to a quick tour of the garden and kitchen, before settling into the atmospheric dining room. Birchall’s food is precise but not prissy, his dishes’ deliciousness backed by a super-professional and equally personable service team.
'Elevated grandma cooking' is the order of the day at Mýse
6. Mýse, Hovingham
@restaurantmyse
Where is it? A half-hour drive from York
Mýse, pronounced ‘meez’, opened in summer 2023 as the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Joshua and Victoria Overington after they closed Le Cochon in York in search of new pastures. Inside the refurbished 19th century inn lies a bright, wood-panelled Scandinavian-style dining room, with a parallel culinary offering that brings sustainability to the fore.
Ferments, pickles and foraged ingredients form the backbone of the menu and philosophy, which is lovingly described as ‘elevated grandma cooking’ by its team. Dishes such as roast Thirkleby duck with a walnut wine sauce cleverly balance hearty flavours with delicacy. A skewered parcel of Yorkshire pudding batter filled with braised ox cheek offers a comforting taste of the locality. Wine is no afterthought, with a list curated by the importers behind famed wine haven Noble Rot in London. For those wanting to stay, the restaurant has six rooms available for guests, with breakfast prepared and served by the Mýse team.
The Muddlers Club has earnt a stellar reputation since its 2015 opening (Image: Elaine Hill Photography)
7. The Muddlers Club, Belfast
@themuddlersclubbelfast
Where is it? City centre
The Muddlers Club takes its name from the 200-year-old independence-seeking society of United Irishmen, and its location – obscured down a Belfast alley – and moody interiors feel true to its name and elusive inspiration. Since opening in 2015, chef-owner Gareth McCaughey has been quietly building a reputation for The Muddlers Club as one of Belfast’s best eateries thanks to its simple and charming showcase of Irish gastronomy.
McCaughey’s approach is contemporary and fun, with his short-but-sweet five-course tasting menu making the most of seasonal Irish produce. Dishes such as the strawberry, basil and elderflower are honed beautifully, exemplifying McCaughey’s minimalist approach. Dishes of salt-aged beef with turnip, pea and broad bean are an all-singing celebration of Ireland.
Dishes at The Fordwich Arms offer a refined taste of British fare
8. The Fordwich Arms, Fordwich
@thefordwicharms
Where is it? A 10-minute drive from Canterbury
After working in some of the UK’s top restaurant including The Clove Club (No.80 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024), Daniel Smith traded life in the big city for Britain’s smallest town, taking over the Fordwich Arms in 2017. With the change, Smith stripped back any previously held superfluity in his craft, devising a menu of refined British fare using ingredients sourced mostly from the surrounding Kentish countryside.
Across both the a la carte and tasting menus, dishes such as the south coast hake with courgette, mussels and fino sherry sauce go big on flavour and satisfaction without the normal heaviness of traditional British food. While the restaurant has embarked on a culinary renaissance, it has clung to its roots, dishing up comforting and unpretentious hospitality.
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