Casamia in Bristol, run by chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, has been named as the best regional restaurant in the UK in 2018 by online restaurant guide Squaremeal.co.uk. The list showcases the best 100 restaurants outside London and is voted for by food bloggers, Squaremeal readers and foodies.
Peter Sanchez-Iglesias
Flying into first place is Casamia in Bristol which was ranked the top restaurant having previously achieved 12th position in last year’s list. Casamia's kitchen is run by chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias with his father Paco running front-of-house and his mother running the accounts.
On the Casamia instagram they said: "WOW! We are totally blown away, being voted Best UK Restaurant 2018 by @squaremeal.co.uk Thank you everyone for the support and following us on our journey and to my team, who continue to smash it for Bristol."
Casamia is situated on Bristol’s historic waterfront and offers a seasonally focused menu where diners are often served by the chefs, in an elegant room that blurs the boundaries between kitchen and customers.
The win is particularly poignant for the Sanchez-Iglesias family after Jonray Sanchez-Iglesias (Peter's brother) sadly passed away in 2015. The kitchen was originally run by both brothers with Peter taking the helm after Jonray's death.
SquareMeal editor, Ben McCormack, said: "With its 14-course tasting menu, space for just 35 diners, restricted opening hours and contemporary good looks, Casamia has everything you would expect from an ambitious destination restaurant in one of Britain's most vibrant cities".
Upon hearing the news of Casamia’s fantastic achievement Peter said: “We’ve always thought outside the box and questioned everything, down to the last little detail, to be able to make the restaurant into the dining experience we want it to be. This award shows that what we’re doing could be even more incredible in the future, and it should encourage everybody to believe that you can have a number one restaurant based in Bristol.”
Increasing by one place to be named as the second-best restaurant in the top 100 is Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume in Cumbria which holds two Michelin stars. Chef Rogan’s culinary style is all about distilling the essence of flavour, allowing nature, landscape and the seasons to gel harmoniously on the plate.
Last year’s top restaurant The Sportman in Kent which has been awarded the third place in the list. Run by chef Stephen Harris, it offers “locally sourced and home-created ingredients” that The Sportsman’s kitchen puts to use in “sublime dishes evocative of the seaside”.
Oxfordshire’s Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons has been named the fourth most popular restaurant (falling two places from last year’s list). Famed for their “exceptionally creative” French-inspired cooking, the restaurant offers “superb, well-balanced menu full of seasonal flavours and surprises”.
Tom Kerridge’s The Hand and Flowers in Marlow has attained sixth place in the list of the UK’s top 100 restaurants with chef Kerridge continuing his success of fifth place back in 2017.
Enjoying an increase of ten places to be the 7th most popular restaurant in the UK's top 100 is Brighton-based 64 Degrees with Great British Menu 2017’s Michael Bremner at the helm delivering a daily menu of “clever, clever” small plates (four each of meat, fish, veg and desserts)
Daniel Clifford is another member of the two-Michelin star club and his restaurant Midsummer House is celebrating its 20th year anniversary which is renowned for its exquisite tasting menus with dishes like maple-glazed veal sweetbread with poached turnip, ox tongue, pistachio and maple syrup foam on offer.
Coming in at tenth place is The Waterside Inn which is situated in Bray (meaning two of the top 100 restaurants are based in this small Berkshire town) The Waterside offers top-end French gastronomy and is headed up by celebrated chef Alain Roux.
Visit the Squaremeal.co.uk website to view the full list of the top 100 restaurants here.
In these challenging times…
The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.
Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.
A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.
Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.
