Thousands of UK reviewers and readers voted for their favourite restaurants, outside London, for the SquareMeal Best UK Restaurant of 2017.

The UK's top 100 restaurants were named today by squaremeal.co.uk and in first place was The Sportsman in Seasalter, Kent, which also took the top spot in the  National Restaurant Awards 2017 last month.

It has been ran by self-taught chef Stephen Harris and his brother for 18 years and after being awarded the title of The Best UK Restaurant 2017, Stephen Harris told SquareMeal: “I was always determined that we were going to be the best restaurant in the country, and that doesn’t happen accidentally. But you don’t tell anyone that. And we don’t take it for granted.”

 Voters praised The Sportsman on its “surprising and well-chosen wine list”, “fantastic food at affordable prices” and “wonderful warm welcome.”

 Here are the top ten winners of the SquareMeal Best UK Restaurant list for 2017: 

1.     The Sportsman, Kent 

2.     Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire 

3.     L’enclume, Cumbria

4.     The Fat Duck, Berkshire

5.     The Hand and Flowers, Buckinghamshire

6.     The Waterside Inn, Berkshire

7.     Midsummer House, Cambridge

8.     Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall

9.     The Elephant, Devon

10.  The Artichoke, Buckinghamshire  

• Read the original article and see the 100 restaurants who made the SquareMeal Best UK Restaurant list for 2017

By Grace Handley