New look 27th edition lists the best restaurants in Britain – and 15 are in Merseyside

FROM fine dining top end restaurants to favourite local eating places; if they’re good enough, they’re in the latest edition of The AA Restaurant Guide, inspected by the AA for culinary excellence. Over 140 new and interesting restaurants have made it into the just published Guide for the first time this year. Fifteen are in Merseyside, including the former workshop of The London Carriage Works (The London Carriage Works, Liverpool), a dining experience with sensory light effects to enhance the mood (Fraiche, Oxton) and a renovated cottage hospital (Riviera at Leverhulme, Port Sunlight).

The high quality of culinary experiences across the country, offering delicious food and impeccable service

New entries for 2020 include a restaurant in a former WWII spy training facility (Arisaig House, Arisaig), a restaurant in the village which appears in the UK passport (The Brasserie, Bibury), Tate Britain’s restaurant (The Rex Whistler, London), a dining room exhibiting Chatsworth’s Devonshire Collection (Cavendish Hotel, Baslow, and a dining spot in the town with ‘England’s best view’ (Mizu, Borrowdale). Lympstone Manor Hotel, in Exmouth, has been awarded the maximum five rosettes, making it one of the very best restaurants in the UK.  

The top counties in the UK for new additions to The Restaurant Guide 2020 are: London (with 27 new restaurants in the Guide this year), Devon (nine), North Yorkshire (seven), Cornwall (six), Norfolk (six) and Worcestershire (six).

60 Hope Street
One of the dishes from 60 Hope Street which made it into the 2020 Guide

Simon Numphud, managing director at AA Media, said: “We are pleased to see the hospitality industry going from strength to strength, with over 140 new dining destinations being added to The Restaurant Guide 2020. The establishments in this year’s Guide demonstrate the high quality of culinary experiences across the country, offering delicious food and impeccable service.”  

Regarded as one of the most trusted guides for food lovers and representing some of the best cuisine in Britain, The Restaurant Guide is a practical guide to Britain and Ireland’s top dining destinations, containing restaurants currently awarded Rosettes for culinary excellence by the AA’s professional inspectors.

Liverpool Fireworks Panoramic 34 Liverpool 11 01 2018
Panoramic 34 was one of the 15 new entries

The Restaurant Guide 2020 offers an in-depth guide to the UK’s restaurant scene by county, with a detailed description of each destination, from opening details and capacity, to information on the latest chef and sample menu prices. The Guide also offers clear AA mapping to assist those looking to travel to the listed restaurants, as well as images of many of the dining destinations.  

In addition to restaurant listings, The Restaurant Guide 2020 includes interviews with top chefs including Tom Brown and Steven Edwards, as well as details of the winners of the AA Hospitality Awards, including Restaurants of the Year, AA Wine Awards and Chefs’ Chef of the Year.  

The Restaurant Guide 2020 is available for £16.99 in bookshops and online.

Roski Liverpool 3
Röski was one of Liverpool's new Guide entries this year

The list of Merseyside restaurants new to the Guide this year is as below:

Riviera at Hillbark

FRANKBY

Burnt Truffle

HESWALL

60 Hope Street Restaurant

LIVERPOOL

Chez Mal Brasserie

LIVERPOOL

Panoramic 34

LIVERPOOL

The London Carriage Works

LIVERPOOL

The Art School Restaurant, Liverpool

LIVERPOOL

Mowgli

LIVERPOOL

Röski Restaurant

LIVERPOOL

Fraiche

OXTON

Riviera at Leverhulme

PORT SUNLIGHT

Vincent Café and Restaurant

SOUTHPORT

Bistrot Vérité

SOUTHPORT

Gusto Trattoria

SOUTHPORT

The Lawns Restaurant at Thornton Hall

THORNTON HOUGH

Read more: AA Hospitality – how did the North West do?