If you (like me) are constantly on the lookout for a great boozer that also serves up banging food, then you’re in the right place. Hundreds of industry experts from around the UK recently voted on their pick for the country’s best food-forward pubs. The result is Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs list for 2024. And the last makes it official: London is home to some of the best gastropubs in all of the UK.
In recent years, ‘gastropub’ has become a bit of a dirty word. It’s become synonymous with rising pint prices, tiny Sunday roast portions, and disappointing experiences. But these things don’t have to be true… After all, to be a gastropub merely means that an establishment is focusing on its food more than a typical pub might. Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs Awards recognises that, with a list that focuses on highlighting “culinary excellence within the pub industry”.
The UK’s best gastropubs
According to the list, the very best gastropub in the UK can be found in Suffolk. There, the Unruly Pig has claimed the top spot, after topping the list previously back in 2022. The pub was lauded for being “winsome and warm” and serving up “filling and well-crafted pub food”. Their monthly changing menu of British and Italian food was also commended for being a welcome departure from typical pub grub.
Rounding out the top three were The Cornish Arms in Devon and Cornwall’s The Mariners, in second and third place respectively. The former was praised for ” the simplest of food crafted with the highest care”. Meanwhile, the latter was described as “a must-visit gastropub for staycationers and international tourists alike”.
Which London pubs made the list?
Highgate’s The Red Lion and The Sun took the highest ranking for a London pub, coming in at number six. The historic pub was described by the awards team as “one of the capital’s greatest gastropubs”.
Joining the Red Lion and The Sun on the list were:
- Harwood Arms (#11) – Fulham
- The Baring (#26)Highgate’s The Bull and Last (#31) – Islington
- The Parakeet (#36) – Kentish Town
- The Cadogan Arms (#40) – Chelsea
- The Guinea Grill (#43) – Mayfair
- Canton Arms (#46) – Stockwell
And that’s just counting the venues that made it into the top 50! The wider list of the UK’s Top 100 Gastropubs includes many other London venues. The list ranged from the likes of Islington’s The Tamil Prince (#60) to Fitzrovia’s The George (#91) and many others.
With eight inclusions in the Top 50 and a further 10 pubs in the wider Top 100 list, London counts a whopping 18 of the UK’s best gastropubs among its ranks. That means almost a fifth of the country’s best gastropubs can be found within our capital.
We’re gonna have to get out there and make a head-start if we want to try them all!
See the full list of the Top 50 Gastropubs in the UK here.
