Food is an integral part of British culture, whether you’re looking for a quick bite to eat or treating yourself to a top notch meal out. But with a plethora of eateries spanning the entire nation, it might be difficult to determine which one deserved to come out on top.
However, SquareMeal have done the legwork for us and delivered their annual Top 100 UK Restaurants for 2022. They announced their Top 100 Restaurant Awards in a series of Instagram posts, right from the bottom to the very top.
Using a combination of in-house critic reviews and thousands of votes from diners, the SquareMeal revealed the UK’s favorite foodie spot – and it can be found in rural Somerset. Located in Bruton, Osip is headed up by Merlin Labron-Johnson, who started his culinary journey at the age of 16 when he began cooking at school in exchange for free meals.
READ MORE: The ‘best’ Indian restaurant in London named the city’s favorite which seats just 35 people
His CV features several postings across Europe, including the two Michelin-starred Albert Premier Hotel in Chamonix and the now-closed In de Wulf in Belgium. Merlin has a collection of solo ventures under his belt, Portland in Fitzrovia being his first, which earned its first Michelin star in its first nine months of operation.
After stints in the city and Sicily, Merlin opened up Osip in the rural countryside, offering guests a hyper-seasonal farm-to-table tasting experience. The restaurant made the decision to remove menus entirely, with their site saying: “Our vision of a country restaurant is a place where guests can come and put their faith in the kitchen, knowing that we will cook from the heart.”
Osip serves much of its own produce it grows in nearby plots of land, as well as working closely with local suppliers. All guests are told that at lunch there is a choice of a menu du jour for £55 per person or a six course choice for £85. For dinner choose between the six course menu or one of nine courses for £110 per person.
Dishes previously served at Osip include Fallow deer served with a blood sausage, apple compote and blue kale, hand-dived scallop with crosnes, cider and pickled elderberry capers, and chilled rice pudding topped with coffee caramel, puffed wild rice and ice cream made from Celeriac skins and dried coffee bean husks.
Speaking to SquareMeal, Merlin said: “It’s a huge honor to be awarded No1 Top UK Restaurant by SquareMeal.
“I’m really proud that this has been voted for by genuine, passionate people who love what we’re doing at Osip so it truly does mean a lot.”
On Osip’s Instagram page, they celebrated their win: “OSIP NAMED BEST RESTAURANT IN THE UK BY SQUARE MEAL!
“We’re really excited and truly honored to have been voted as Number One restaurant in the Uk by Square Meal. A very proud day for our tiny little restaurant.
“Thank you to the thousands of lovely people that voted and congratulations to all the incredible places that featured on the list this year. It’s so nice to see Somerset represented!”
Making up the UK’s top three restaurants was Gareth Ward’s Ynyshir in Powys, Wales, and modern European Pensons in Tenbury Wells, Herefordshire. Elsewhere in the top ten, you’ll find both Scottish and Northern Irish haunts such as Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Perthshire and The Muddlers Club in Belfast.
Just outside the top spots were Padstow’s Paul Ainsworth at No.6, Michael O’Hare’s avant-garde The Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds, and Aktar Islam’s Opheem.
London has it all – the best nightlife, food, drink, events, markets, everything!
But how do you keep on top of this? Our weekly What’s On newsletter, Going Out Out, is how.
You’ll get a fully curated newsletter with the most exciting stories, reviews, previews and more – including original content – every single week.
And the best bit? It’s completely FREE.
All you have to do is sign up for Going Out Here.
The UK’s Top Ten Restaurants by SquareMeal:
- Osip, Somerset
- Ynyshir, Powys
- Pensions, Herefordshire
- Andrew Fairlie Restaurant, Perthshire
- L’Enclume, Cumbria
- The Muddlers Club, Belfast
- Moor Hall Restaurant, Lancashire
- The Little Fish Market, Brighton
- Inver, Argyll & Bute
- The Small Holding, Kent
For the full list, visit here.
read more
Related Articles
read more
Related Articles
Is there a story you think we should be covering? If so, please email whatson@mylondon.news or at ellen.jenne@reachplc.com