L'Enclume named top place to eat for fourth year running

Cumbrian restaurant L'Enclume has been named the best in the UK in an influential guide that also features a motorway services and a bike shop cafe.

The 2017 Good Food Guide awarded Simon Rogan's L'Enclume, in the village of Cartmel, a perfect 10 for a fifth time and named it the top restaurant for the fourth year running for the "soaring sophistication of Mr Rogan's cooking" - noting the 17-course tasting menu which offers "clever elements of technical wizardry to keep the 'oohs' and 'aahs' going".

Rogan said: "It's a huge achievement but could not happen without a massive team effort. For me, it's a privilege to lead this outstanding group of people.

"There's no doubt that L'Enclume is approaching the most creative period in its history, and achieving the quality I dreamed of when I first opened its doors."

The guide also awarded a score of 10 to Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, Cornwall, taking it to second place in the top 50, for its "first-class food and knowledgeable, welcoming service".

Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottinghamshire, Pollen Street Social in London and Hibiscus, also in London, all won scores of nine and took third, fourth and fifth place in the ranking respectively.

A number of unusual locations also feature in the guide, including three restaurants housed in shipping containers - Cook House in Newcastle, Craftworks Street Kitchen in Truro, Cornwall, and Kricket in Brixton, London.

It also raves about the "modern marvel" that is the independently-run Gloucester Services on the M5 which includes a gourmet cafe committed to locally-sourced food.

Shuck's at the Yurt, a restaurant housed in a tent in Thornham, Norfolk by husband and wife team Phillip and Beth Milner, has also been recognised as one of the top places to eat in the country - as has Spoke and Stringer, part of a bike and surf shop in Bristol.

The guide's consultant editor Elizabeth Carter said: "From yurts to campsites, bike shops to shipping containers, the vessel in which a good restaurant sails is no barrier to entry in our guide.

"We look for great food wherever we can find it - and that's sometimes in highly unusual places."

Sarah Dunning, the chief executive of The Westmorland Family - which owns Gloucester Services said: "Our motorway service areas champion interesting food from their locality and beyond and we are lucky to be able to connect many small, local food producers with the British travelling public.

"Good food is very important to us and it's great to be recognised for what we do."

The guide's Editors' Awards named James Close at The Raby Hunt in Durham as chef of the year and Orwells in Oxfordshire as restaurant of the year.

The Good Food Guide, owned by Waitrose, was first published in 1951 listing "600 places throughout Britain where you can rely on a good meal at a reasonable price".