A number of London restaurants have been recognized in this year’s Good Food Guide nominations, including the famous hotel The Ritz which is up for restaurant of the year. The list for The Good Food Guide Awards 2025 includes London entrants in all categories, including Chef to Watch and new awards for Best Value Set Menu and Most Beautiful Restaurant.
Celebrated at a glittering ceremony on Monday 3 February at the Theater Royal Drury Lane in central London, The Good Food Guide Awards 2025 are set to recognize the best of emerging and established excellence in British food in 2025. TV presenter and restaurant enthusiast Richard Bacon is host of the awards.
The card list recognizes several of London’s most prolific restaurants. The Ritz Restaurant and St John Smithfield in Farringdon are vying for the Restaurant of the Year award, facing stiff competition from Opheem (Birmingham), Osip (Somerset) and Restaurant Jericho (Leicestershire).
The Ritz is known for its Michelin-awarded restaurants, with a la carte main courses such as wild sea bass, artichoke and Menton lemon (£64), Suffolk lamb, goat snake and mint (£65), or to serve two, beef, hen of wood and périgord truffle (£150).
Its other London competitor at this year’s awards, St John Smithfield is considered one of the finest authentic English dining experiences around, with dishes such as roasted mallard, turnip and trotter (£32), lean and onion (£25) and steak pie (for two ) (£48).
Meanwhile, the Chef to Watch category is more hotly contested than ever, with seven contestants considered tomorrow’s biggest talent – three of them based in London restaurants. Jake Dolin of Manteca, an Italian restaurant in Shoreditch; Elliot Hashtroudi of Camille, a French-style bistro in Borough Market; and Meedu Saad, head chef at Kiln Soho, a restaurant part of the Super 8 group that reopens after renovations on January 22.
Manteca’s modern twist on Italian classics consists of nduja steamed mussels, cream and parsley (£13), pasta dish ziti ragu Genovese (£16) and red-legged partridge, chestnuts and pancetta (£25).
Camille’s menu includes French-inspired dishes such as leek, goat’s turp and Cantabrian anchovy toast (£15), snails, garlic and paisley (£15) and roached pollock, ham consommé & red brussels sprouts (£28). Kiln Soho’s menu items include chak like sour curry of gray mullet (£18), Issan-style offal (£11.50) and chantaburi curry of cull yaw with celeriac (£12.50).
The Best New Restaurant award showcases the grand new openings of the past year, with Row on 5 the only London entry to make the shortlist. The Most Beautiful Restaurant award has three London contenders – The Dover – a New York Italian bar and restaurant in Mayfair, The Park – “a new world grand cafe” near Hyde Park, and Wildflowers, a Mediterranean restaurant in Pimlico.
And in a new category for 2025, The Good Food Guide is celebrating astonishing value in eating out with the Best Value Set Menu award, with Devonshire restaurant in Soho and French bistro Josephine Bouchon on Fulham Road among the five contenders.
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Another new award introduced for 2025 is The Russell Norman Award for Restaurateur of the Year, in memory of the late restaurateur behind Polpo and Brutto.
Knife & Fork Media founder Adam Hyman said: “Russell was my hero, a friend and mentor. We wanted to pay respect to a man who was hugely influential in our industry and ensure his name is not forgotten. With the blessing of his family, We are delighted to name our Restaurateur of the Year award after Russell and his legacy of exceptional hospitality.”
The Good Food Guide was first compiled by Raymond Postgate in 1951. Much has changed since the first edition but the ethos of the original Book remains firmly in place: The guide is about empowering diners, helping readers find the very best places to eat and encouraging restaurants to offer the best possible food, service and experience.
The Good Food Guide is now a fully digital publication featuring 1,200 restaurants, pubs, cafes and wine bars across the UK. All reviews are done anonymously by a network of inspectors and all meals are paid for in full. No establishment can buy its way into the guide and as a result the publication is one of the most trusted sources of where to eat in the UK.
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