Tallow in Kent tops Good Food Guide's 100 Best Local Restaurants list
A neighbourhood restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells has topped the Good Food Guide's list of Britain's 100 Best Local Restaurants.
Tallow in Kent was named the overall Best Local Restaurant by the guidebook.
The Caterer visited Tallow at the end of 2021, where chef Rob Taylor's monthly changing menus saw him showcase produce at its peak, using familiar flavour pairings intensified through technique.
Regional winners in the list include Les 2 Garçons in London, the Sparrows in the north-west, Homestead Kitchen in the north-east, the Kinneuchar Inn in Scotland, Seasonality in the south-east, Wild Artichokes in the south-west, Rocket & Rye in Wales and Tropea in central and the east of England.
The list features restaurants from city centre locations , as well as suburban and rural offerings. It was collated from over 37,000 public nominations, with all of the listed restaurants inspected by Good Food Guide inspectors.
"Tallow stood out, head and shoulders above what is a very strong list this year. For a chef of this quality to be so happily focused on running a neighbourhood restaurant is extraordinary," said the Good Food Guide's Editor, Elizabeth Carter.
"There's a level of commitment here that would sit happily in many top restaurants. Everything is beautifully thought through, from food you really want to eat – delicious, simple, seasonal – to the remarkably at-ease service and the care of customers."
Tallow co-owner, Donna Taylor, added: "What an unexpected and humbling acknowledgement for the whole team at Tallow, and such a privilege to be considered alongside restaurants we love and respect. We're incredibly proud to receive confirmation from our guests that Tallow has become what we had hoped, an accessible, relaxed dining experience that they wish to enjoy over and over again."
The full list of restaurants – regional winners are the first in each list:
Central & East of England
Tropea, West Midlands
Watson and Walpole, Suffolk
Chapter, West Midlands
Brix & Bones, Norfolk
Stiffkey Red Lion, Norfolk
Fancett's Bistro, Cambridgeshire
The Kilpeck Inn, Herefordshire
Hitchen's Barn, Rutland
Lark, Suffolk
The Silver Cup, Hertfordshire
London
Les 2 Garçons, London
Copper & Ink, London
Sam's Riverside, London
The Holland, London
Giulia, London
Akub Restaurant, London
Hawthorn, London
Church Road, London
North East
Homestead Kitchen, North Yorkshire
The Hispanist, East Yorkshire
Hearth, East Yorkshire
Ophelia, Tyne & Wear
Coin, West Yorkshire
Brooks, West Yorkshire
Long Friday, Tyne & Wear
The Orange Bird, South Yorkshire
Bantam, North Yorkshire
Hinnies, Tyne & Wear
Tonco, South Yorkshire
Hern, West Yorkshire
North West
The Spärrows, Greater Manchester
Four & Twenty, Cumbria
Belzan, Merseyside
10 Tib Lane, Greater Manchester
The Yan, Cumbria
Edinburgh Castle, Greater Manchester
Another Hand, Greater Manchester
Covino, Cheshire
The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman's Rest, Cumbria
Parkers Arms, Lancashire
Bombay to Mumbai, Greater Manchester
The Nag's Head, Cheshire
The White Horse, Cheshire
Lily's Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Greater Manchester
Kysty, Cumbria
Higher Ground, Greater Manchester
Scotland
The Kinneuchar Inn, Fife
The Loveable Rogue, Strathclyde
Celentano's, Strathclyd
Bar Brett, Strathclyde
Eighty Eight, Strathclyde
The Palmerston, Lothians
L'Escargot Bleu, Lothians
Ga Ga Kitchen & Bar, Strathclyde
Gloriosa,Strathclyde
Eusebi Deli, Strathclyde
The Oystercatcher, Argyll & Bute
The Dory Bistro, Fife
The Galleon Bistro, Highlands & Islands
KORA by Tom Kitchin, Lothians
The Bothy, Moray
South East
Tallow, Kent - (Overall winner)
Seasonality, Berkshire (South-east regional winner)
The Greyhound, Buckinghamshire
The Dew Drop Inn, Berkshire
Samphire, Kent
Five Little Pigs, Oxfordshire
Quince, Kent
The Victoria Oxshott, Surrey
The Pilgrim, Buckinghamshire
Palmito, West Sussex
The Purefoy Arms, Hampshire
Pompette, Oxfordshire
The Folkestone Wine Company, Kent
The Goods Shed, Kent
Fourth and Church, East Sussex
South West
Wild Artichokes, Devon
Sonny Stores, Bristol
Pythouse Kitchen Garden, Wiltshire
The Greenhouse, Cornwall
Art Sushi, Dorset
Bank, Bristol
Little Hollows Pasta, Bristol
The Cotley Inn, Somerset
Iford Manor Cafe & Kitchen, Wiltshire
Caper and Cure, Bristol
Brassica, Dorset
Littlefrench, Bristol
The Rocket Store, Cornwall
Andria, Devon
Beckford Canteen, Somerset
The Exmoor Forest Inn, Somerset
The Halfway at Kineton, Gloucestershire
Wales
Rocket & Rye, Glamorgan
Y Polyn, Carmarthenshire
The Warren, Carmarthenshire
Heathcock, Glamorgan
Paternoster Farm, Pembrokeshire
The Black Bear Inn, Monmouthshire
Yr Hen Printworks, Ceredigion
