Restaurants of the Year
Best new openings, anticipated launches for 2026, best value picks, top UK getaways, MORE
It’s a challenge to name a Restaurant of the Year after a busy 12 months of openings, including personal favourites Luna Omakase and Ara, and instant-hit late contenders like Poon’s and Martino’s. Perhaps the year belongs to Public House Group, which book-ended 2025 with The Fat Badger in Notting Hill and The Hart in Marylebone, both following its formula of warm service, cosy-elegant décor and fantastic food. There are even plans for a pop-up hotel in 2026.
Newly formed MAD Restaurants had a strong year too, with two stellar openings in Soho. MOI impressed with its Japanese-inspired omakase bar and grill and compelling cocktails, while ALTA introduced Northern Spanish cuisine in surprising, playful dishes like a sardine empanada and coffee-spiked slivers of beef cecina.
While some restaurants seem to come from nowhere, others take years to build, and the one I recommend most often is Legado, the follow-up to Sabor from Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho that opened in August. It’s the one you can go back to, time after time, because there’s so much worth exploring on the menu, from crab rice to suckling pig to lamb empanadas. It’s easy to see how it was several years in the making, and it’s not done yet – there are plans for a chef’s table and private dining room in 2026.
To close the year in style, a selection of favourites we’ve visited in 2025 (best new openings, best neighbourhood spots, worth the spend, best value, best UK getaways) and the ones we’re most looking forward to in 2026. Here’s wishing you a very happy new year of dining. –Laura Price
RESTAURANTS • The Nines