Thirteen Merseyside venues are included in the region's first dedicated restaurant guide

As the North West’s booming restaurant scene continues to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of growth, the Confidentials team has released the region's first dedicated restaurant guide - the Top 100 Restaurants in the North West.

The launch of the new web and mobile guide took place on Monday 10 September at an event held at the Museum of Science and Industry Manchester (MSIM), attended by over 200 representatives from restaurants all over the region. 

The inclusive Top 100 list features Michelin starred establishments, bistros, pubs, steakhouses and street food diners

Since the launch, social media has been abuzz with support from chefs, restaurants and food lovers pleased to finally see a guide which celebrates the best the North West (and a little beyond) has to offer and acts as an alternative to the majority of south east-centric restaurant guides.

Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume ultimately claimed the number one spot, with Moor Hall in Aughton, run by L’Enclume’s former head chef Mark Birchall, coming a close second. Michael O’Hare’s Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds placed third, while The Moorcock from Sowerby Bridge took fourth, and Fraiche from the Wirral took fifth.

170427 Moor Hall Review Black Pudding
Moor Hall in Aughton came second in the North West Top 100 restaurants

The new guide 'loosely spans' the North West, with restaurants from Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire joined by those from within the Confidential catchment areas in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

The inclusive Top 100 list features a variety of dining establishments; from Michelin star-winners like The Box Tree and Fischer's Baslow Hall to Indian street food diners (Bundobust, Indian Tiffin Room), steakhouses (Hawksmoor, Stockdales), bistros (Wreckfish, Joseph Benjamin) and gastro pubs (Freemasons at Wiswell, The Church Green).

Fraiche (5th) was Liverpool's highest ranking restaurant, followed by Roski (15th), Wreckfish (20th) and the Art School (30th). Maray, Belzan, Bacaro and Spire also featured in the Top 100 (see below).

20171013 Wreckfish Exterior
Liverpool's Wreckfish came a very respectable 20th
2018 09 11 Top 100 Restaurants North West Launch Top100 Nw 207
The Top 100 was revealed at a launch event at MSIM

Lancashire gastro pubs have a particularly good showing in the Top 100, with the likes of the White Swan at Fence (11th), Parker’s Arms (16th), and The Cartford Inn (28th) all making the top 30, while The Church Green and The Roebuck in Cheshire also make the cut.

Masterchef alumni also feature heavily on the list, with Anton Piotrowski (Roski, Liverpool), Liz Cottam (Home, Leeds), Simon Wood (Wood, Manchester) and Matt Healy (The Foundry, Leeds) all making the cut.

Meanwhile, independent and affordable operations continue to challenge the more traditional establishments, with casual and cheap eats restaurants accounting for more than half the Top 100, while the 48 entries from rural and suburban locations – such as Bistrot Verite in Birkdale Village – show it’s no longer all about central city locations.

How it looks:

Top 100 67 Top 100 Guides Top 100 7

Confidentials publisher Mark Garner said: “The North West food scene is increasingly evolving and thriving, outperforming much of the UK. Yet the region, and the North in general, always feels underrepresented in most major restaurant guides. And that just won’t do.

“We’ve published thousands of restaurant reviews over the last seventeen years, and have been looking for a way to collect all that hard earned knowledge together to create something new and, most importantly, something useful. We think we’ve achieved that with the Top 100 Restaurants in the North West.”

The new guide has been compiled by a panel, which includes Confidential’s team of restaurant critics, independent writers and food industry experts. The rankings have been allocated using Confidential’s Top 100 scoring system, taking into account Confidential’s own scored reviews (where appropriate), the panel’s visits and revisits, and the collective ratings of other trusted guidebooks and critics.

“What this guide shows is that there is an array of talent and creativity in the region, producing some exciting and top quality food,” added Mark Garner, “but the competition is tough out there, so the top 100 will need to stay on their toes to keep their place on the list.”

You can see the full Top 100 list below and at confidentialguides.com

2018 09 11 Top 100 Restaurants North West Launch Top100 Nw 220
The guide's publisher Mark Garner presents L'Enclume with their No.1 award

The Top 100 Restaurants in the North West 2018:

The Top 30 (ranked):

1

L'Enclume

2

Moor Hall

3

The Man Behind the Curtain

4

The Moorcock

5

Fraiche

6

Adam Reid at the French

7

Hawksmoor

8

The Box Tree

9

Where The Light Gets In

10

The Freemasons at Wiswell

11

White Swan at Fence

12

Home (Leeds)

13

Manchester House

14

The Forest Side

15

Roski

16

Parker's Arms

17

Umezushi

18

Skosh

19

Lake Road Kitchen

20

Wreckfish

21

The Rabbit

22

Joro

23

Northcote

24

Arras

25

Bundobust (Manchester)

26

The Burlington Restaurant, Devonshire Arms

27

Baratxuri

28

Cartford Inn

29

El Gato Negro

30

The Art School

The remaining 70 (unranked, A-Z)

20 Stories

Albert Schloss

Alderly Edge Hotel

Alston Bar and Beef

Amma's Canteen

Asha's

Australasia

Belzan

Bird at Birtle

Bistrot Verite

Chaat Cart

Chef's Table

Da Piero

Eagle and Child

Fischers Baslow Hall

Gimbals

Grafene

Harvey Nichols 2nd Floor

Hispi

Hrishi at Gilpin

James Martin

Joseph Benjamin

Levanter

Lily's

Lunya Liverpool

Maray Bold Street

Masons

Matt Healy The Foundry

Mughli

Nutters

Old Stamp House

One88

Ox Club Headrow

Oystercatcher

Peacock at Rowsley

Porta Altrincham

Prashad

Rogan and Company

Rudy's Peter Street

Salthouse Bacaro

San Carlo Cicchetti

San Carlo Manchester

Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor

Spire

Sticky Walnut

Stockdales of Yorkshire

Sugo Pasta Kitchen

Tattu

The Allotment

The Church Green

The Craft House

The Hearth of the Ram

The Hinchliffe Arms

The Indian Tiffin Room

The London Carriage Works

The Pen Factory

The Refuge

The River Restaurant at The Lowry

The Roebuck

The Samling

The Swine that Dines

The White Hart at Lydgate

Theravadu

Vice & Virtue

Volta

White Rabbit Todmorden

Wood

Yang Sing

Yu & You

Yuzu

confidentialguides.com