Harden's top 100 restaurants in the UK guide includes two in Merseyside

Two Merseyside restaurants have been included in the prestigious Harden's Best UK Restaurants 2023 guide.

Harden's comprehensive guide includes more than 3,000 entries, and aims to showcase the UK's hospitality industry, including venues in the famed big cities, and smaller, lesser known sites spotted in towns and areas that aren't as well known. The number one spot went to Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, but the North West was one of the best performing regions outside of London.

There's an impressive 38 'Top Scoring' restaurants in the area, nine of which have made it into the acclaimed Harden's Top 100, including two in Merseyside. The Art School Restaurant and Fraiche both retained places in this year's top 100, as did Moor Hall in Aughton, near Ormskirk.

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The Art School, a swanky, "high class" venue on Sugnall Street, was lauded by Harden's and declared "brilliant", securing extremely high scores for all aspects of the operation. Celebrating its eighth year, Paul Askew's "varied and ambitious menu" is the main talking point, but service has also been highlighted for being "like a well-oiled machine but with a touch of 'Liverpool friendliness and good humour'."

Fraiche, based in Oxton, just made it into this year's elite ranking as the final restaurant to feature on the top 100 list. Harden's hails chef patron Marc Willkinson as a "genius" who "never fails to impress" at his "compact" venue – an unexpected find "off the beaten track" in Wirral, in a conservation village bordering Birkenhead.

Fraiche has, on several occasions, topped the Harden's diners’ poll as the UK’s number one destination. With just a dozen covers, it’s a small but mighty setting with dedication and devotion to its “imaginative visuals and playlist”. Marc’s “unusual” and distinctive cuisine, delivered as a six-course tasting menu, was also praised.

Early in 2022, there was news the restaurant was due to close, but this is no longer the case. The guide reveals Marc is hunting for new premises, though, so there could be major changes for Fraiche in 2023.

The Harden's 100 ranking of the UK's best restaurants in full

The Top 100 restaurants derived from the 30,000 reports with ratings submitted by 3,000 diners who contributed to the Harden's annual survey.

1. Andrew Fairlie, Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder
2. Evelyns Table at The Blue Posts, London
3. Waterside Inn, Bray (39)
4. Endo at The Rotunda, London (4)
5. The Kitchin, Edinburgh (23)
6. Core by Clare Smyth, London (5)
7. Adam Reid at The French, Manchester (40)
8. L’Enclume, Cartmel (19)
9. Maru, London
10. Pine, East Wallhouses
11. Da Terra, Town Hall Hotel, London (3)
12. The Five Fields, London (10)
13. Sorrel, Dorking (13)
14. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (61)
15. Hjem, Wall (56)
16. Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton (37)
17. Adam's, Birmingham (29)
18. PLU, London
19. The Araki, London
20. Muse, London (24)
21. Lumire, Cheltenham (46)
22. Estiatorio Milos, London
23. The Little Fish Market, Brighton (15)
24. Lympstone Manor, Exmouth (6)
25. Kitchen Table, London (12)
26. Hambleton Hall, Hambleton (32)
27. The Forest Side, Grasmere (36)
28. LPM, London (45)
29. Paul Ainsworth at No 6, Padstow (85)
30. Joro, Sheffield
31. The Little Chartroom, Edinburgh
32. SOLA, London (31)
33. The Art School, Liverpool (18)
34. Anglo, London (21)
35. Morston Hall, Morston (38)
36. A Wong, London (64)
37. Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms, Eglwys Fach (7)
38. Meadowsweet, Holt (98)
39. The Ledbury, London
40. Nobu, London (27)
41. Roots, York (97)
42. Alchemilla, Nottingham (14)
43. House of Tides, Newcastle upon Tyne (57)
44. Outlaw's New Road, Port Isaac (74)
45. Aulis at L'Enclume, Cartmel
46. The Latymer, Pennyhill Park Hotel, Bagshot
47. Club Gascon, London (95)
48. ChefsTable at TRUEfoods, Melmerby
49. Oxeye, London
50. Cail Bruich, Glasgow (59)
51. Roketsu, London
52. Cornerstone, London (50)
53. Chez Bruce, London (42)
54. SY23, Aberystwyth
55. Trinity, London (47)
56. Aulis London, London (33)
57. Robin Wylde, Lyme Regis
58. Bibendum, London (99)
59. The Clove Club, London (17)
60. Opheem, Birmingham (100)
61. Bohemia, Jersey
62. Restaurant Twenty Two, Cambridge
63. Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, Port Isaac (49)
64. The Angel, Hetton (58)
65. The Black Swan, Oldstead
66. Frog by Adam Handling, London (82)
67. Umu, London
68. Unalome by Graeme Cheevers, Glasgow
69. Le Gavroche, London (52)
70. The Sportsman, Seasalter (41)
71. Pied Terre, London (44)
72. Ekstedt at The Yard, Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London
73. Mana, Manchester (9)
74. The Sea, The Sea, London
75. Midsummer House, Cambridge (78)
76. The Peat Inn, Cupar (20)
77. Moor Hall, Aughton (16)
78. The Whitebrook, Restaurant with Rooms, Whitebrook (53)
79. Old Stamp House, Ambleside
80. The Moorcock Inn, Sowerby Bridge
81. Lyle's, London (66)
82. Sollip, London (88)
83. Imperial Treasure, London
84. Gidleigh Park, Chagford
85. Behind, London (51)
86. Elderflower, Lymington
87. Wilson's, Bristol (80)
88. BiBi, London
89. Amaya, London (69)
90. The Olive Tree, Queensberry Hotel, Bath
91. The Ritz, London
92. The Wilderness, Birmingham
93. Sketch, Lecture Room at Library, London
94. Quilon, London
95. Kol, London
96. The Fat Duck, Bray
97. Myrtle, London (90)
98. The Small Holding, Goudhurst (25)
99. The Cellar, Anstruther
100. Fraiche, Oxton (28)

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