It is no secret Scotland is home to a myriad of excellent restaurants with warm hospitality and even greater food. And now, Scotland is officially home to the UK’s best restaurant: Two Michelin Star restaurant Andrew Fairlie at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire has been awarded the UK’s top restaurant on the Harden’s Top 100 list, a leading annual diners poll.
What is more, Scottish restaurants claimed eight spots in the UK’s top 100 list with Edinburgh raking in the most restaurants outside of London in the country’s top 500. A whopping eight Scottish restaurants made it into the newly-released list, with The Kitchin in Edinburgh is ranking 5th place in the UK, while other notable inclusions are Restaurant Martin Wishart (14) and The Little Chartroom in Edinburgh (31), as well as Cail Bruich (50) and Unalome by Graeme Cheevers (68) in Glasgow.
The world famous Andrew Fairlie restaurant echoed praises such as ‘a memory to be treasured’, and shot to the top spot for its luxurious ingredients prepared with ‘impeccable skill and creativity’ and attentive staff who are ‘knowledgeable in all respects’.
The Harden’s list is basically one of the only lists of its kind in the UK, where ordinary people like you and I rate the best restaurants, instead of professional inspectors. A total of 30,000 reports are submitted from a survey of 3,000 diners, and you can find that restaurants at all price levels are listed and rated: from street food vendors to the country’s most ambitious dining rooms, with a whopping 2,800 restaurants listed in total.
Peter Harden, co-founder of Harden’s, comments:
“Andrew Fairlie may sadly no longer be with us but his spirit lives on in this restaurant which bears his name. Reaching the top spot this year is a huge credit to his long-time lieutenants, head chef Stephen McLaughlin and general manager Dale Dewsbury.”
“It has been an excellent year for Scotland’s representation in the Harden’s Top 100 as a whole, with restaurants in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and Fife featuring. This, along with Edinburgh’s fantastic placement as second city with the most listings in the Top 500, is testament to the superb quality and value offered by the country’s restaurant scene.”