Best London restaurants: Which west London eateries featured in the National Restaurant Awards’ top 100?

The National Restaurant Awards has once again announced the best eateries across the country, with eight west London joints listed.

The Ledbury has pushed last year’s best London restaurant into second place - Core By Clare Smyth - which was ranked third overall in 2021.

Brett Graham’s Notting Hill eatery has won multiple awards over the years, even with a hiatus for the pandemic, it remains a favourite for Londoners, as well as visitors.

There were dozens of central London eateries, including The Ritz, which featured in the top 100.

Brat in Shoreditch headlined east London’s trendy joints and Trinity in Clapham was the best ranked restaurant in south London.

These are the best in the west.

6. The Ledbury

Address: 127 Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2AQ

Brett Graham’s flagship restaurant reopened in 2022 after a two-year hiatus, due to the pandemic.

The ethos of the Notting Hill restaurant is an obsession with top quality produce, a singular approach to cooking - that blends classical and contemporary elements,  seamlessly together. They are also known to offer an unusually warm and flexible service style.

It must be working, as The Ledbury won National Restaurant of the year in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and have stayed strong over the last 10 years.

The restaurant first opened in 2005, and soon became one of London’s most famous and in-demand dining rooms for both Londoners and visitors to the city.

Graham’s dishes arrive strikingly plated, and there is arguably no chef in the capital with a more distinctive style on the plate.

But, at the same time, there’s a refreshing down-to-earthness to the cooking at The Ledbury, with the team always prioritising deliciousness over culinary showboating.

8. Core By Clare Smyth

Address: 92 Kensington Park Rd, London W11 2PN

This is Clare Smyth’s first solo venture after leaving Restaurant Gordon Ramsey, where she became the first British woman to hold three Michelin stars.

With Core, the Notting Hill restaurant she opened in late 2017, Smyth has managed to achieve the same accolade on her own – three Michelin stars.

She has created a chic and modern dining space that focuses its dishes on the classics as well as dishes for the seasons.

The judges said: “Core feels both reassuringly traditional as well as slick and forward thinking in its approach, a trick that’s often difficult to pull off with any success.”

The awards added: “All this amounts to a dining experience that is decadent but fresh, one that harks back to a time when fine dining restaurants ruled supreme, but which also feels contemporary and on the money.”

26. The River Cafe

Address: Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, Hammersmith, W6 9HA

The National Restaurant Awards says Ruth Rodgers’ riverside cafe remains the benchmark for ingredient-led Italian cooking.

The judges even claimed that The River Cafe “has done more for our understanding of Italian food than any other restaurant in the UK”.

It is responsible for training some of the UK’s best-known food personalities, including Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

The menu includes a wide selection of antipasti, pasta dishes, meat and fish roasted to perfection.

29. Claude Bosi at Bibendum

Address: Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, SW3 6RD

Claude Bosi’s two star fine dining restaurant is appropriately based in the former Michelin building in Chelsea.

Bosi won the restaurant two Michelin stars within its first year, marking the French chef’s third time achieving such an accolade.

The judges said: “A meal at Bibendum is a decadent affair, with Bosi masterfully combining classic and hearty French cooking, with dishes of extreme finesse for a memorable dining experience that ticks all the boxes.

“Not only is the bright first floor dining room one of the most beautiful in the capital, Bosi’s dishes are equally spectacular.

“His caviar and duck jelly demonstrates some nifty tweezer action.”

37. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Address: 68 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, SW3 4HP

Gordon Ramsay’s Chelsea restaurant is as dependably brilliant as it’s ever been, over its 20-plus year history, according to the National Restaurant Awards.

Chef-patron Matt Abé has ensured that the restaurant’s three stars not only stay intact, but positively shine.

The judges said: “This is a menu that the restaurant says focuses on the element of discovery and surprise, with Abé creating an entirely bespoke menu based on seasonality, availability and how the creative juices happen to be flowing that day.”

Diners at Restaurant Gordon Ramsey, can choose from one of four menus – a la carte, menu prestige, carte blanche and vegetarian.

Each menu is packed with the super-premium ingredients, for which, the restaurant has rightly gained a reputation for.

57. Elystan Street

Address: 43 Elystan Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 3NT

Elystan Street in Chelsea became a London classic pretty much overnight when it launched in 2016.

The chef-patron, Phillip Howard, is considered one of the capital’s most treasured chefs, having headed The Square - for a staggering 25 years.

According to the National Restaurant Awards, the postcode allows Howard to offer a set lunch menu with prices more akin to Côte than Michelin-starred dining.

The dishes at Elystan Street are straightforward and use standout seasonal ingredients to great effect.

As with most neighbourhood restaurants, there are some classics that rarely leave the menu, these include;  Howard’s hand-cut strozzapretti; double-baked cheese soufflé; and his peerless lemon tart.

83. Orasay

Address: 31 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 2EU

Orasay, in Notting Hill, is named after the Scottish island where chef-owner Jackson Boxer would holiday as a child.

National Restaurant Awards, said: “The restaurant takes the form of a small and elegant bistro, with low lighting combining with a hazel colour palette to imbue the dining area - with a sense of intimacy.”

The menu is bursting with freshness and seasonality, with its wide selection of seafood that is delivered daily. As well as, vegetables sourced from Boxer’s organic kitchen garden in West Sussex.

The awards added: “There’s a simplicity and elegance in the cooking that avoids overloading the plate with complex flavours, and instead concentrates on getting the best it can out of just a few main ingredients.”

100. Endo at the Rotunda

Address: 8th Floor The Helios, Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, W12 7FR

Endo at the Rotunda, is a 10-seat restaurant located on the top floor of The Helios building, within the BBC Television Centre.

The restaurant is known for offering something more like a theatre performance, than a conventional meal.

The menus created by Endo Kazutoshi and his team, showcase delicious dishes, made from exceptional produce.

National Restaurant Awards, said: “He has strong links with a number of Japan’s most highly-praised saké breweries, meaning Endo at the Rotunda is able to offer bottles that aren’t available anywhere else in the UK.”

Endo at the Rotunda initially launched in 2019, and it didn’t take long for its excellence to be recognised, as within six months it had won a Michelin star.