Harden’s Guide 2025: This Is The UK’s Favourite Restaurant

London restaurant Endo at the Rotunda has claimed the top spot in Harden’s Best UK Restaurants 2025, an annual guide highlighting the nation’s best-loved eateries, now in its 34th edition.

Harden’s Top 100 Best UK Restaurants: Who Made The Cut?

From the World’s 50 Best Restaurants to the Michelin Guide and AA Rosettes, there are an abundance of culinary awards out there. Harden’s guide, however, is the only one based on feedback from normal diners rather than professional inspectors. Each year, it presents a list of the UK’s 100 top restaurants, using comments and ratings from a survey of 2,500 people. 

The number one spot is helmed by Yokohama-born chef Endo Kazutoshi, located above the old Television Centre in White City. It’s faring better than ever following a refurb earlier this year: with space for just 10 diners, Endo at the Rotunda offers a unique Japanese dining experience featuring a whopping 18 courses of top-class sushi and sashimi. Diners hailed it as an ‘extraordinary gastronomic experience’ where ‘the theatre of chef Endo’s entertaining presentation and explanations is a delight’.

Rebecca Dickson

Kazutoshi said: ‘I am truly humbled and deeply grateful for this incredible news. To have the hard work and dedication of my team recognised in this way is an honour beyond words. As Japanese cuisine continues to capture the hearts and palates of people in London and around the world, I feel a profound sense of responsibility and pride to stand at the forefront as a pioneer. It is my mission to not only celebrate this rich culinary tradition but also to push its boundaries and lead its evolution on a global stage.’

Peter Harden, co-founder of Harden’s, added: ‘Since the Top 100 started 15 years ago, this is only the second time the number 1 has been neither modern British nor French. With the ever-increasing influences of Japanese cuisine in the UK, it is refreshing to see one of the leading lights in the capital’s Japanese restaurant scene awarded the winning title.’

The Ledbury

Other high ranking London restaurants included TAKU, which also serves Japanese cuisine, Simon Rogan’s Aulis, a chef’s table just off Dean Street, and The Ledbury, Brett Graham’s Notting Hill stalwart.

Outside of London, restaurants in the north of England did particularly well this year. In second place was Restaurant Pine, the Northumberland hotspot spearheaded by husband and wife duo Cal and Sian Byerley, followed by Scandi-inspired eatery Hjem, run by Swedish chef Alex Nietosvuori and his partner Ally Thompson. Cumbria also put on a strong showing, with five eateries making the list – the most of any region outside of London.

The list is included in Harden’s guide, which is being published this week (£20), and also available as apps for Apple or Android. Find the full list at hardens.com.