How StreetSmart and GFG’s Best Local Restaurants are fighting homelessness, £1 at a time
Published 10 August 2026

Next door to its elder sibling, the Little Chartroom, this all-day venue is the McCarrons' first foray into casual eating. Open all day, the compact café, wine bar and bottle shop offers a flexible menu that deals in everything from full breakfasts (with very good coffee) to brunchy kedgeree fritters with curry mayo and cured egg yolk or BBQ flatbread with ox tongue and romesco – though with the likes of crispy squid bun with mushroom XO and baby gem also on offer, it’s possible to assemble a three-course dinner from the various options. And there are terrific Sunday roasts, too. The bottle shop’s range is included in the wine list (add corkage to the shelf price), or you can sip local beers and cocktails. 'Lovely staff, cool atmosphere,' comments one reporter.

'I have visited multiple times,' observes a fan, 'and every time the food, hospitality and atmosphere have been exceptional.' We don't want to say we told you so, but we flagged Duncan Robertson and Kyu Jeong as Chefs to Watch in 2025, and here we are. In the Redland district of Bristol, their Korean venue's name means 'neighbourhood', signifying everything we expect in a local favourite. Kyu draws productively on her own gastronomic heritage, but also takes a looser approach, weaving Korean flavours and techniques into freshly inventive dishes that might act as gateways to those who are new to them. Charcoal-grilled meats, including pork skirt and wagyu striploin, are the heart of the operation, but seasonal asparagus or Cornish red mullet might find themselves sizzling too. Meanwhile, smaller plates offer pin-sharp seasoning elements – gochujang, baek-kimchi, mussel salt with soondae blood sausage – that set the palate alight. Low-intervention wines, including chilled reds and crisp bubbles, make for great partnerships. 

At one end of a parade of shops and cafés above Carlyon Bay, there is more culinary glamour to Edie's than might first appear. Co-owner and chef Nigel Brown has worked at several fine-dining aristocrats, but Edie’s looks and feels like a true neighbourhood spot – not least because it is run with such sympathetic charm. Contemporary European brasserie cooking is the name of the game, with a good-value fixed-price menu supplementing an impressively adventurous carte delivered with a ‘real eye for detail’ – even in the simplest, most straightforward dishes. Freshly landed Cornish seafood is always a good shout, be it lobster with courgette and tarragon hash brown or hake partnered by a colourful melange of golden beetroot, radish, pancetta and herb yoghurt dressing. Otherwise, there are always plenty of takers for the dry-aged fillet steak with chips, beef tomato and peppercorn butter. Finish with something sweetly seasonal such as strawberry soufflé with elderflower juice or lemon posset with raspberries and Turkish delight. The short, helpfully annotated wine list is notable for its reasonable mark-ups.

‘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.’

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.

‘Francophiles love this place,’ although Pompette is not only a godsend for Summertown locals but also draws in diners who are prepared to undertake a long trip to sample its wares. With its walls emblazoned with artwork, a gorgeous summertime terrace and ‘attentive but knowledgeable staff’, no wonder it is reckoned to be ‘a must-visit’. And that’s before we get to the food. Long-serving chef/co-owner Pascal Wiedemann’s menu is entrenched in bourgeois French cuisine (with the odd European detour) and everything is crafted with care, passion and ‘perfect balance’.  Welcome to the world of sautéed lamb’s sweetbreads with peas, broad beans and anchovy dressing, richly flavoured coarse-textured beef onglet, and kirsch choux buns with griottines and warm chocolate sauce. Other highlights include poulet frites on Wednesday (served Provencal-style in summer), a proper petit-déjeuner from 10am, and also a regular apero hour. Pompette is the charming French word for tipsy, so we do need to mention the drinks: Ricard, Picon Bière and Normandy cider all get a look-in alongside a list of patriotically French wines.

The Hillsborough district of Sheffield is home to Matthew Duggan-Jones' homage to his South African heritage, in which the braai barbecue is a long-standing social tradition. Behind the Orange Bird’s dark-hued facade, there is always the infectious feeling of a party going on – 'it’s consistently delicious, exciting and inviting,' notes one local. The kitchen's repertoire covers everything from appetising small plates and substantial main dishes to the must-have peppermint crisp tart and miso malva pudding with stout ice cream (a clever Anglo-Afro mash-up). Get the juices flowing with venison boerewors or carrot and cumin dhal – and don't forget to order the mosbolletjies (house sweet bread dotted with coriander seeds). To follow, pir-piri chicken or pork neck skewers cooked over the braai BBQ accompanied by yellow courgette salad and biltong are reliably sublime. Accompaniments are equally alluring, from smoked geelrys (yellow rice) to African-style greens and curry butter chips with lime pickle mayo. If you thought South African wine was all Pinotage and Chenin, think again. Here are glorious regional varietals galore – all at eminently fair prices.

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.