Britain’s 100 Best Local Restaurants 2026: Central & East of England winners
Published 17 July 2026

It may be squirrelled away in the little Derbyshire town of New Mills, surrounded by the rugged High Peaks, but Tavola’s ‘welcoming atmosphere makes you feel like you’ve walked into a Sicilian home’. Locals have certainly taken the place to their hearts and the owners have responded, drenching the interior in sunshine-yellow and filling every corner with Sicilian knick-knacks. Ring the bell for admittance and surrender to the unusual comfort of a huge regional menu full of appetising possibilities. Antipasti range from fingers of sfincione (Sicilian pizza) to mangia e bevi (another street-food classic from Palermo involving chargrilled spring onions wrapped in guanciale with salmoriglio). Pasta is homemade too – perhaps twisted casarecce with a creamy pistachio sauce. Locally reared lamb is also given a spicy Sicilian makeover, while desserts including crisp, ricotta-stuffed 'bigne' choux buns show off solid pastry skills. Drinks run from Italian ciders to soft spritzes and natural wines made in terracotta pots, but you'll always know you're in New Mills: the bill comes with a selection of sweets from the neighbouring Swizzels factory.

Having made his name cooking at the Pack Horse pub in Hayfield, Luke Payne branched out with the launch of this new venture five miles down the road in Glossop – with help from an enthusiastic team who are ‘masters of creativity and hospitality’. Above a cosy bar, behind café curtains, a simple dining room serves umami-rich British dishes laced with thoughtfulness and great technique. Roscoff onions braised in velvety chicken broth until they are slippery and tender are colourfully described as ‘orbs of joy’. Another small(ish) plate of mutton merguez with pease pudding and chermoula is balanced as well as toweringly meaty, rich and spicy. Skate forestière, one of several generous main courses, is lifted by a touch of dashi in a herb-flecked mushroom sauce of compelling, spoonable richness. Seasonal colours and flavours also define desserts such as Eton mess or custard tart with rhubarb compôte. Wines align happily with the appeal of the food, making Almanac quite the package – at any price. ‘A hidden gem at the gateway to the Peak District.’

Chef Gareth Bartram made his name at Winteringham Fields but now he is flying solo at this pint-sized spot in Louth, which has ‘brought something refreshing and inspiring’ to the town. Both the bar and the dinky dining room on the first floor are well supported by the local populace, who appreciate the fact that this dynamic, welcoming space ‘evolves seamlessly throughout the day’ – from breakfast and light bites to cocktails and dinner. Snacks open the show (perhaps a Lincolnshire Poacher tartlet with pickled walnut ketchup), while ‘beautifully executed’ small plates bring temptation in the shape of, say, chorizo with crushed peas, house ricotta and preserved lemon. Among the larger plates, the catch of the day with sauce vierge or BBQ picanha steak with peppercorn sauce, Roscoff onions and horseradish cream show off the kitchen’s classic skills, while sherry trifle with Anabel strawberries, vanilla and elderflower brings proceedings to a seasonal conclusion. The succinct, well-priced wine list is a real highlight, with a former Winteringham Fields sommelier sending offbeat bottles from their shop across the Humber in Hull.

‘The whole vibe is incredible,’ writes a fan of this ‘absolutely fabulous’ family-run spot just off Saffron Walden's main square. Chater’s nods to its warehouse origins with high ceilings and polished concrete floors, while the kitchen taps into a local appetite for keenly priced food and good ingredients. Drop in for coffee and cake from 9am, or come for a simple Italian-style lunch, an aperitivo or a full evening meal. Small plates anchor the offer, from cured trout with horseradish and broccoli to chopped beef with crisps. If you're really hungry, a dish of homemade pasta sorts that out pronto: try the canestrini with pork shoulder and cime di rapa. Desserts keep it simple, with tiramisu perhaps lining up alongside white chocolate panna cotta and rhubarb. There is vigorous applause for the Negroni made with red vermouth from the Chater's Vault distillery next door, while Ark Pinot Gris from Mount Farm Vineyards near Sudbury is an appealing entry point on the wine list. Service is every bit as warm.

‘Truly a local restaurant in the best sense,’ noted one reporter after a visit to this easy-going Japanese eatery originally set up to feed workers from Derby’s Toyota factory. Inside, you’ll find a ‘mixed bag of regulars, including children, merrily eating sushi and a chef working at the counter on the back wall’. The laminated menu is a simple two-pager; you can stay with this or simply see what’s coming from the kitchen – perhaps cold soba noodles with a light dipping sauce, fabulously fried soft-shell crab tempura and equally good mixed prawn-veg tempura, assorted sushi with a lovely roe gunkan and scallop nigiri. Each morsel is perfectly balanced with melt-in-the-mouth nori around perfectly seasoned 'temperate' rice. To finish, a scoop of green-tea ice cream should do the trick. This is not rarefied omakase; it’s no-frills Japanese dining, made even better with a bottle of Japanese beer, a cup of sake or something from the minimal wine list. Service is swift and bills are reasonable – no wonder this place is ‘obviously well-known among Derby’s fish fans’.

An agreeable feeling of pastoral prosperity characterises the ancient market town of Uppingham, and Fern, housed in the honey-coloured Falcon Hotel on the edge of the market square, fits right in. Once you step out of the rather traditional foyer, the restaurant has a very distinct vibe and its roster of Mediterranean-inspired dishes suits customers to a T. The best bit, explained one regular, is the reasonable pricing – ‘you can comfortably give in to temptation and order several things which are perfect for sharing’. The kitchen looks to the Shires landscape (and the nearby market) to provide many of the ingredients for the table, while the menu changes regularly depending on what’s in season; there's also plenty of 'ingenuity and boldness of flavour’ on show here. Recent highlights have ranged from a dramatic-looking Snowball onion with rose-petal harissa and moreish confit garlic aïoli to a generously packed raviolo of braised beef and a red mullet dish pointed up with sharp grapefruit and umami pickles. Staff are lovely, house wine is £29, cocktails are good, and on a Friday there’s a £15 ‘Market Plate’ with a glass of wine.

‘Cromer is so very, very lucky to have this restaurant in its midst,’ enthused one reporter – delighted that Fino has lifted the town’s seaside spirit and added a touch of effortless cosmopolitan cool. The front bar serves as an informal drop-in, but co-host Ruth Butler’s colourful paintings and the sheer warmth and hospitality of the place will lure you into the smart, blue-hued dining room. There’s a simple elegance to the seasonally changing menu, which is peppered with prime produce from Norfolk and beyond. Cromer crabs are one of the stars (perhaps served with asparagus, spicy tomato syrup and hollandaise foam), while larger plates could plunder the local catch for skate wing or line-caught halibut (with wild rocket vichyssoise), as well as championing Norfolk game (red deer with molasses labneh and sorrel verde, say). There’s plenty of enthusiasm for desserts such as caramelised white chocolate tart, too. Also check out the ‘exceptional-value’ daily lunch specials (£17). Wines by the glass or Lyonnaise pot encourage exploration, while a line-up of unfiltered sherries is a nod to the restaurant’s namesake.

‘Always delicious. Always seasonal,’ proclaims one reporter, while another notes that James Carn’s classy venue is ‘totally focused on delivering a culinary experience with personality’. There are a few tables on the pavement and the interior is plainly furnished in café style, complete with a variety of soothing pictures, while service comes from a knowledgeable and passionate team who know how to take care of their customers. A thoroughly modern menu kicks off with an ample choice of nibbles and small plates ranging from cep arancini to cured Suffolk sea bass paired with horseradish, kohlrabi and tartare sauce. As the plates get larger, the combinations of flavours and textures become more artful and stimulating – as in spatchcock quail with black-bean purée and Padrón peppers. At the finishing line, desserts mobilise vivid fruit flavours and there’s often a seasonal trifle too (perhaps cherry and white chocolate). Wines are an imaginative spread offered at prices it's hard to argue with – even at the top end, where some glittering vinous treasures await. In short, ‘the perfect local spot.’

Originally a domestic supper club, before decamping to a Sherwood shipping container and finding its way to Derby Road,  the Little Brickhouse is now ‘a core part of the community food and social scene’ run by some of the ‘coolest people you will ever meet’. Inside is a jumble of furniture and an embarrassment of decorative riches – the work of local artists trying their luck amid a tide of eccentric knick-knacks. The homely feel is heightened by the ‘beautifully comforting yet sophisticated food’ – an ever-changing blackboard of small plates peppered with exciting possibilities. From the sesame bread with chive butter to the lime and botanicals sorbet, everything sings and the flavours just keep coming: panelle siciliane with crab and dill; courgette lasagne; hanger steak with Padrón peppers; chicken schnitzel with baby gem, pine-nut dressing and radishes.  The wine list is all-natural, naturally, and there are cocktails and beers too. To cap it all, they have 'lots of interesting events – late dancing, brunches, supper clubs, cinema nights and markets outside – so it’s never boring.’

The bistro alternative to Sam Carter and Alex Olivier’s acclaimed Restaurant Twenty-Two, just two doors away, is casual and cosy but feels expansive, helped along by service that is utterly charming. It’s appreciated for being open all week, ‘unheard of for a little independent like this,’ and for making fine dining accessible and neighbourly. It’s bound to win you over. The food, based on first-class seasonal, often local materials, is sophisticated and comforting rather than experimental and challenging. It nourishes, gratifies and cheers, from the opening rosemary and sea-salt focaccia and sublime snacks to the finale of just-baked madeleines, and from the ‘unmatched’ Sunday roasts (‘who doesn't want ox cheek inside their Yorkshire pudding’) to a set lunch menu that feels like Cambridge’s best. Settle into the window seats and watch the world go by or book a booth on the upper tier to glimpse the kitchen action. As for drinks, the well-curated wine selection does an agile job of satisfying the novelty-hungry as well as traditionalists, but they already had us at the aperitif stage – every cocktail has a spot-on alcohol-free version.

‘On another day, I would have walked past this tiny place and not noticed it,’ commented one reporter after discovering Piccalilli – a ‘hidden gem’ from veteran Nottingham chef Dan Coles. Expect ‘locally sourced and seasonal menus delivered with care and confidence’, all prepared in a tiny open-to-view kitchen. Welsh rarebit croquettes with punchy walnut ketchup might kick things off, ahead of an array of vegetables, fish and meat options – perhaps new season’s asparagus with another croquette (‘actually a cunningly disguised boiled egg’), hake with Cornish potatoes, samphire and parsley sauce or lamb rump with spring pea salad and anchoïade. Dessert might be something enterprising such as parsnip cake with salted butterscotch and goat’s-milk ice cream. To drink, Cidentro cider from Melton Mowbray, plus beers from local names including Lenton Lane Brewery, line up alongside cocktails and a slate of reasonably priced wines. Value for money is assured, especially with the option of a fairly priced set deal, while regular themed nights and special Sunday lunch sessions add to the local fun.

With deliciously lazy Afro-Cuban beats on the turntable plus tequilas and Cuban rums in evidence behind the bar, there was a distinct Latino vibe to this diminutive weekend-only spot when we crammed in early one Saturday evening. At the back is a minuscule kitchen where Steve Bishop-Laggett methodically prepares a short, world-hopping, monthly changing menu. Meat takes a leading role (‘we like offal’ states the website) – a fact emphasised by the stuffed animals (foxes, deer and various horned beings) displayed on the wood-panelled walls. Best come as a couple (or a maximum of four) to balance out a meal of, say, a thick slice of beef tongue accompanied by tender chunks of lamb neck, herby green chorizo, and ‘cowboy’ beans in a very rich bone-marrow sauce, refreshingly countered by shrimp ceviche tostada with shredded cabbage, salad, cocktail sauce and radish. A couple of wines (both Portuguese on our visit) augment a short list of spirits and cocktails – the Margaritas are recommended, especially when paired with some cactus fries and prickly pear BBQ sauce.

Sai Deethwa and James Fitzgibbons are the enterprising husband-and-wife team who created a cult following for delicious Thai street food with their food van, Buddha Belly. Now settled in a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, they have brought authentic Thai cuisine to a suburb renowned for thriving independent eateries, their popularity among Brum diners undiminished. Soi 1268 is everything you hope a neighbourhood restaurant will be, run with unmistakable warmth and genuine, relaxed hospitality. And the food is exceptional. It's bold, vibrant, and packed with flavour, whether the incomparable beef massaman or spicy chicken panang. Local craft beers, well-executed twists on classic cocktails, and a brief wine list round things out.

‘The Suffolk is really hospitable,’ insists a reporter who adores this slice of East Suffolk gentility, which manages to satisfy locals who live down the road as well as incomers up from London for the weekend. Owner George Pell embeds himself in the local community, staging off-the-cuff breakfast events on the beach, hosting the town’s marmalade-making competition and even linking up with Snape Maltings to celebrate the summer solstice. In the kitchen, it’s all about Suffolk produce, seasonality and simple, honest cooking with nods to the town’s ‘terroir’. Current chef (and Tom Kerridge alumnus) Luke Truelove is carrying on where his predecessor left off, delivering classy metropolitan food with all-round appeal. Seafood is a star turn, from grilled Aldeburgh herring on toast with 'nduja butter to the ‘fish of the day’ with warm tartare sauce and samphire. Meat comes from Aldeburgh’s ‘super-butcher’ Salter & King (check out the beef shin and Binham Blue cheese pie), while desserts nod to the locality with Pump Street dark chocolate tart and yoghurt ice cream. There are snacks, ales, vinyl records and plenty of wines by the glass in the bar, too.

This love letter to Italian regional cooking not only serves its neighbourhood brilliantly, but the fun now extends to an additional bar for counter dining, which provides even more opportunities for socialising. The feel is of a modern refettorio with a sleek navy-blue frontage and a cool, softly lit interior. Brilliant staff go out of their way to make sure everyone has a good time and the food is tailor-made for happy mixing and matching, kicking off with inspired antipasti selections such as Roman-style arancini or burrata with strawberries, pistachio and basil oil. Pasta is a sure-fire hit (pappardelle with rabbit ragù, for example), while main dishes are robust and rustic along the lines of lamb shoulder with braised peas and Tropea onions (of course). Anyone leaving without having bitten into one of the bombolone (filled doughnuts) has missed a textural sensation. Not surprisingly, Italy is the reference point for an approachable wine list with plenty by the glass or carafe; also ask to see the prestigious 'cellar list' of fine vintages.

Sedate Berkhamsted received an invigorating jolt when Wild opened in 2025. Behind the picture windows, the large interior is light and airy, with blond woods and a beige colour scheme. So far, so Home Counties. But a soundtrack of cool urban beats sets a new tone, as does expert, understated service from a team that includes the former sommelier of Le Gavroche. ‘Ingredients-led’ has become a cliché, but here it has precise meaning. Wild's owners also run an organic regenerative farm near Radlett, so it's no surprise that superlative home-grown produce forms the starting point for a menu of small plates and sharing dishes, including exquisitely crunchy raw turnip accompanied by the restaurant's version of Gentleman’s Relish. Chef-patron Matt Larcombe (formerly at the Crown at Bray) also knows when to enhance his raw materials and is adept at the chargrill. The open kitchen at the back produces beautifully puffy flatbread, filled with luscious strips of tender lamb and blobs of tart rhubarb emulsion, while a masterly take on lemon meringue pie with miso caramel sees the gooey, sweet meringue scorched to bitterness. Such expert touches accentuate Wild's class.