Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79835 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Synopsis
Now in its 57th year, The Good Food Guide retains its unrivalled position as Britain's leading restaurant review. All inspections are anonymous, every reviewed meal is paid for and no freebies are accepted, making The Good Food Guide the only truly independent review. As such the Guide is highly respected with a loyal following among its many readers, and their feedback throughout the year ensures the Guide covers the best new openings and local treasures. The Guide boasts reviews from the coast of Sussex to the far corners of the Scottish Highlands. There are detailed descriptions of the very best dining experiences in the UK, from gastropubs ideal for brunch with friends to venues perfect for that once-in-a-lifetime meal. The book is packed with information on prices, chefs, wine lists and menus. It also contains foodie features and interviews with the top chefs in the UK, including Tom Aikens, Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux Jnr., Jean Christoph Novelli and Rick Stein. Every year the Guide covers a wide range of cuisines and proudly champions the use of local produce and the regional award-winners are voted for by our readers.

Customer Reviews

Engrossing as ever
As usual this guide makes compulsive reading, if you're interested in good food. For the last two years there's been a greater use of colour printing and the whole appearance of the book is more attractive. It's inevitably weighted towards more populated areas with very few entries for far-flung places, where in truth one needs guidance even more. The Guide is limited by he fact that it is alerted to good places by recommendations from the general public to which it then sends inspectors. So, for example, an excellent eating place in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland will have a lesser chance of inclusion if a volunteer inspector is unavailable to travel and stay there (at their own expense) to do the inspection--most inspectors only get the meal reimbursed. In recent years the Guide's entries have been categorized by region rather than by an alphabetical list of towns/cities, which is fine if you know that, e.g., Salford would be under Greater Manchester--not so easy for parts of the UK that one isn't familiar with let alone for foreign visitors. There's an alphabetical list of restaurant names--it would be helpful to have a similarly ordered list for recommended restaurants by the name of the town or city. I think this Guide is the best of the bunch of Guides as the entries are not paid for by the establishments listed and there is a big input from the paying public.

A bit limited
I was disappointed with this. If you live outside of London, there is not much choice and what there is seems to be high end. The impression I got was of a "bit of a Cclub", with only a "certain class" (and a regular group)of restaurants being reviewed. I mean, what use to the average Joe is an entry for Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, with meals at £150-£175 a head and a waiting list of years. All in all, it was pretty useless to me, trying to find good value, good quality restaurants in West Midlands and Norfolk, that I did not already know about. I thing the reviewers need to set their Sat Nav to outside the M25 a lot more. Or maybe I should be looking in a different guide?

Excellent guide for high end restaurants
I have already on several occasions used this guide to find restaurants that punch above their weight, or at least price tag. Not being as prestigious as Michelin stars, it is my experience that a good score in this guide is indicative of a meal worth taking without causing the same price hike and/or stampede that comes with a few stars. So far the reviews have been pretty close to the mark in terms of type and quality that can be expected. Small maps of each county makes it easy to get a quick overview of possibilities.
Having mentioned the Michelin guide, it should be remembered that this is also a one volume guide to all of the UK. Hence, only a tiny fraction of all UK restaurants can be included, so I recommend only investing in this guide if you are going for the very best - it won't help you sort the decent restaurants from places that should be avoided at all cost in your local area.