Best Local Restaurant South West 2025
Counter Culture
Newquay, Cornwall
‘It takes you away from where you are, an escape to a back street of Barcelona or Lisbon’
Basque meets British at this year’s South West standout: a stripped-back bar and restaurant in Newquay, fizzing with energy and contributing considerably to the town's ongoing restaurant renaissance. Behind it is Ben Harrison, a chef who spent his formative years with Marco Pierre White before cooking all over Europe as a private chef. Happily he’s back on the scene with ‘superb fresh food, fantastic atmosphere and service’. ‘Counter Culture has the best vibe,’ read one reader nomination. ‘It takes you away from where you are, an escape to a backstreet of Barcelona or Lisbon.’
‘We’re honestly overwhelmed at the news,’ said Ben, responding to the news. ‘Everyone is so happy, it is unbelievable for us. There has been so much hard work from everyone involved and this recognition is huge.’
Best Local Restaurants in the South West 2025
The South West boasts an outsized proportion of Britain’s Best Local Restaurants with an abundance of laid-back superstars drawing on the exceptional produce from land and sea. Last year’s regional winner North Street Kitchen continues to turn out some of the most sparkling, simply delivered fish cookery in the country, while New Wave Brasserie – infused with the global CVs of Tim and Maisie Boyd – joins the ranks with an impressive yet informal Lechlade gem. Another Gloucestershire triumph is Post, a betting shop turned bottle shop where head chef Fred Page cooks from the owners’ smallholding. And there’s a third in Stroud newcomer Juliet – a smash hit with readers from day one. Mitch Tonks’ Dartmouth classic, The Seahorse, now run under the steady steer of his son Ben, makes its first return to the list since 2014, taking the prize for most reader nominations in the region.
View all the Best Local Restaurants in The South West:
