Every year, long running restaurant guide Harden’s polls its readers to compile the coveted list of the nation’s best places to eat out.
This year more than 2,500 ordinary diners submitted 30,000 reports for inclusion in the 2026 guide, which is published this week.
Restaurants at all price levels are included – from street food vendors to Michelin star establishments.
Marylebone has its fair share of top class restaurants and One Michelin star AngloThai came in 40th on Harden’s list, while Roketsu Japanese restaurant was ranked 17th.
The high-end, authentic Japanese kaiseki (multi-course) dining experience opened in New Quebec Street in 2022.
Chef Daisuke Hayashi, who trained at Kikunoii a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Kyoto, is one of the only masters of the Kaiseki tradition.
Popular dishes include the wagyu sushi, lamb chops with Kanzuri chili miso, Cornish white fish with nori sauce and prawn tempura.
Meanwhile AngloThai was opened in November 2024 by husband-and-wife team, John and Desiree Chantarasak.
They had started out with pop ups around London before starting their first bricks and mortar restaurant in Seymour Place as a fine dining experience blending Thai flavours with British ingredients.
Within months it had been awarded a Michelin star for dishes such as spicy beef jungle curry with brioche roll; Carlingford oyster with fermented chili, Brixham crab and Exmoor caviar served with a crispy coconut ash cracker, and delica pumpkin and fig leaf ice-cream.
Reflecting on changes in the restaurant scene, Peter Harden said London was a standout for top-end price rises with a sharp jump in the number of dining spots charging £250 plus per head.
“It’s understandable that over the last year the hospitality industry has been toiling away under a cloud of gloomsterism,” he said.
“Hit by food inflation, rising wages, relentless rent increases and soaring utilities – some long-term operators say that 2025 is the toughest year they can recall.
“However, what our survey results and data-crunching from across the sector shows is the remarkable resilience at work from those in the trade: our number of entries remains very steady and strong newcomers are emerging in each area of a quality that is probably better than ever.”
The latest edition of the Harden’s guide is now available in print price £20 and also available as apps for Apple or Android.
