Three North East restaurants that are all run by couples have been named among Harden's Top 100 in the UK.
Harden’s is the UK’s original "user-generated content" restaurant guide, based on feedback from normal diners rather than a group of professional inspectors. The 32nd edition of the guide has been published this week and reveals the top 100 restaurants in the UK - with three North East venues making the list.
Two Northumberland eateries have landed two coveted spots in the top 20, with Pine in East Wallhouses taking the number 10 spot and Hjem in Wall coming in at 15. Newcastle restaurant House of Tides has also earned its place on the list, ranking at 43.
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Peter Harden, the co-founder of Harden’s, said: "The three restaurants from the North East named in the Harden's Top 100 are real forces to be reckoned with. Inventive dishes, well-sourced produce and true passion from the teams involved put them all within the upper echelons of the list.
“In culinary terms, the North East is acknowledged in our survey as home to some of the most creative cooking in the country."
Pine is run by Cal Byerley and partner Siân Buchan in an old cow barn near Hadrian’s Wall and focuses on locally sourced ingredients. Harden's said: "Sixteen courses of jewel-like complexity, with inventive (and delicious) combinations of flavours' helps win adulatory reviews for this Northumberland two-year-old."
Hjem, is the Scandi-inspired restaurant from Swedish chef Alex Nietosvuori and his Northumberland-born partner Ally Thompson at The Hadrian Hotel in Wall. The restaurant was praised by Harden's polled diners who said it created “gorgeous, delicious, astoundingly flavourful dishes."
House of Tides, run by husband and wife team Kenny and Abbie Atkinson, occupies a Grade I-listed sixteenth-century merchant’s house on Newcastle's old Quayside. Harden's 2023 guide says the restaurant "is frequently hailed as Newcastle’s best restaurant, and it’s historically the most renowned of the city’s more ambitious culinary destinations. Its "lovely, informal, friendly atmosphere makes this haute cuisine dining experience an all-round joy."
The Harden's guide is said to be the only UK restaurant guide sold in bookshops based on feedback from normal diners rather than a group of professional inspectors. A total of 30,000 reports are submitted from a survey of 3,000 diners.
Restaurants at all price levels are listed: from street food vendors to the country’s most ambitious dining rooms, with 2,800 restaurants listed in total. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire was crowned the UK's best restaurant taking the top spot on the list.
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