Kiln, a tiny Thai venue in Soho that champions clay pot cooking, has been named the best restaurant in the UK at the National Restaurant Awards.
Founded by Brit Ben Chapman as a sister site to his hugely popular Smoking Goat, which has since moved from Soho to Shoreditch, Kiln specialises in dishes from northern Thailand, Burma and Laos cooked over an open flame.
Action at the restaurant is centred around a stainless steel counter that overlooks the open kitchen where dishes are cooked over coals in clay pots, woks and grills.
Among the dishes on the current menu are stir fried squid with garlic and chives; mackerel dry red curry; langoustines with kaffir lime and sweet mint; and clay pot baked glass noodles.
Having only recently opened, ex-Barrafina head chef Nieves Barragan’s debut solo venture, Sabor in Mayfair, which boasts a tapas bar at street level and a restaurant cooking whole suckling pigs on the first floor, scooped second place.
Barragan was also named chef of the year at the awards ceremony last night, while Noble Rot in Fitzrovia picked up an award for the best wine list and Raymond Blanc received a lifetime achievement award.
Andrew Wong will also be celebrating, as his dim sum restaurant, A Wong in Pimlico, which recently won a Michelin star, took the third spot on the list.
The top three restaurants illustrate the democratisation of the dining scene in the UK, and popularity of casual dining venues serving Michelin quality cuisine.
Having headed up the list for the last few years, Whitstable gastropub The Sportsman at Seasalter slipped down to ninth place on this year’s list.
Five of the restaurants in the top ten are in London, with Clare Smyth’s Core in Kensington coming in fourth place and Lyle’s in Shoreditch taking spot seven.
Also making up the top 10 were Simon Rogan’s restaurant with rooms L’Enclume in Cumbria, Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham and Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall.
Scroll down for the full list…
The UK’s top 100 restaurants 2018
1: Kiln, Soho
2. Sabor, Mayfair
3. A Wong, Victoria
4. Core by Clare Smyth, Notting Hill
5. L’Enclume, Cumbria
6. Moor Hall, Lancashire
7. Lyle’s, Shoreditch
8. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
9. The Sportsman, Kent
10. Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall
11: Claude Bosi at Bibendum, Chelsea
12. The Coach, Marlow
13. Coombeshead Farm, Cornwall
14. Brat, Shoreditch
15. Padella, London Bridge
16. The Quality Chop House, Clerkenwell
17. The Ledbury, Notting Hill
18. Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire
19. Wreckfish, Liverpool
20. The Black Swan at Oldstead
21: The River Café, Hammersmith
22. Indian Accent, Mayfair
23. Paul Ainsworth at No 6, Padstow
24. El Pastor, London Bridge
25. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxford
26. Ondine, Edinburgh
27. Casamia, Bristol
28. Ynyshir, Powys
29. Som Saa, Shoreditch
30. House of Tides, Newcastle
31: The Clove Club, Shoreditch
32. The Fat Duck, Bray
33. Chez Bruce, Wandsworth
34. Elystan Street, Chelsea
35. The Crown at Burchetts Green, Maidenhead
36. Trinity, Clapham
37. The Little Fish Market, Hove
38. The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny
39. Quo Vadis, Soho
40. The Seahorse, Dartmouth
41: Barrafina, Covent Garden
42. Lorne, Victoria
43. The Waterside Inn, Bray
44. Brawn, Bethnal Green
45. The Raby Hunt, Darlington
46. Hispi, Didsbury
47. Hoppers, Soho
48. Midsummer House, Cambridge
49. Noble Rot, Bloomsbury
50. Gymkhana, Mayfair
51: Nuala, Old Street
52. Hedone, Chiswick
53. Alchemilla, Nottingham
54. Kricket, Soho
55. Pollen St Social, Mayfair
56. Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo
57. Root, Bristol
58. St John Bread & Wine, Shoreditch
59. The Star Inn Harome, Yorkshire
60. Farang, Highbury
61: Holborn Dining Room, Holborn
62. The Hand & Flowers, Marlow
63. Wilson’s, Bristol
64. 40 Maltby Street, London Bridge
65. Black Axe Mangal, Islington
66. Carter’s of Moseley, Birmingham
67. The Palomar, Chinatown
68. Smoking Goat, Shoreditch
69. The Beehive, Berkshire
70. The Hardwick, Abergavenny
71: Timberyard, Edinburgh
72. Xu, Chinatown
73. The Dairy, Clapham
74. Le Gavroche, Mayfair
75. Paco Tapas, Bristol
76. The Parkers Arms, Clitheroe
77. Rambla, Soho
78. Wine & Brine, County Armagh
79. Frog by Adam Handling, Covent Garden
80. Where The Light Gets In, Stockport
81: Bonhams, Mayfair
82. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Edinburgh
83. Fraiche, Oxton
84. Restaurant Story, London Bridge
85. Sardine, Hoxton
86. The Ritz, Picadilly
87. Kitchen Table, Fitzrovia
88. Inver, Argyll & Bute
89. Lima, Fitzrovia
90. The Fordwich Arms, Canterbury
91: Frenchie, Covent Garden
92. The Elephant, Torquay
93. Barbary, Covent Garden
94. Neo Bistro, Mayfair
95. Mark Greenaway, Edinburgh
96. Morston Hall Hotel, Norfolk
97. Northcote Manor, Langho
98. Westerns Laundry, Highbury
99. Perilla, Newington Green
100. Ikoyi, Piccadilly
