Edinburgh has been revealed as the UK’s second city for quality restaurants, behind London, according to Harden’s Best UK Restaurants 2017.
Harden’s 26th annual poll of diners, which surveyed 7,500 participants who contributed 50,000 reviews, found that although Manchester achieved the guide’s biggest number of inclusions outside London (52), Edinburgh (with 43 listings) was revealed as the UK’s second city in terms of quality, with 10 restaurants amongst the guide’s UK Top Scorers, out of 250 in the country as a whole.
North Yorkshire is the top county for dining, with 14 Top Scorers, narrowly beating its neighbour Cumbria with 11, and a further 6 are found in West Yorkshire (12= amongst all counties).
The Home Counties may include many of the country’s most illustrious restaurant names, but scored relatively poorly overall.
Brighton and Leeds tied with Manchester for the third position in terms of Top Scorers, with posh enclaves such as Bray and Cheltenham punching well above their weight in terms of top scoring restaurants.
Liverpool and Cardiff were amongst large cities with no Top Scoring restaurants, despite a high number of overall inclusions, suggesting both cities have further to go to develop as quality dining destinations.
The guide’s editor and co-founder Peter Harden said: “What is impressive about the Edinburgh restaurant scene is its quality at all price levels. Manchester’s economic boom is there to be seen in terms of its number of overall restaurants, and there are many fabulous restaurants now in the city, but it is still losing out to Edinburgh when it comes the best destinations.
“Having been born in Manchester, I look forward to the city nurturing more truly top-tier establishments at all price levels! Outside of London, top restaurants are still often to be found in leafy rural spots rather than in urban centres: only two of our top-20 most mentioned restaurants outside London are in cities. A more metropolitan dining culture is still establishing itself in the UK, often with cheaper restaurants aimed at younger folk, and Manchester’s progress is fully in line with that trend.”
