If you (like me) are constantly on the lookout for a great boozer that also serves up top-quality food, then you’re in luck. Industry experts from all over the UK recently voted on their pick for the country’s best pubs with particularly delicious food (aka gastropubs). And they’ve put the results together into a wonderful little ranking – Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs for 2025. It’s now official; London is home to some of the best gastropubs in all of the UK.
In a list full of examples from the likes of Suffolk, Lancashire, Cornwall, Manchester, and beyond, London was responsible for 11 of the top 50 gastropubs. But taking the top position as the UK’s best gastropub was Suffolk’s The Unruly Pig. Close behind in second and third position were Soho’s The Devonshire and York’s The Star Inn, respectively.
‘Gastropub’ became a bit of a dirty word thanks to the sub-standard examples that flooded the country in the late-2000s and early ’10s. Many will hear it and conjure up images of horrifically overpriced (but mediocre) food served on anything but a normal plate – such as planks of wood, mini fryer baskets, and strangely shaped crockery. Or they’ll think of minuscule Sunday roasts, and downright disappointing experiences.
But these pubs prove that the word ‘gastropub’ doesn’t have to be synonymous with disappointment. After all, if you go back to the root of the word, it just means a pub with a particular emphasis on good food. And that can hardly be a bad thing, right?
London’s best gastropubs
London’s top gastropubs range from popular drinking holes in Soho to pubs serving impressive Indian cooking and beyond. These spots made it into the top 50 list:
- The Devonshire – Soho (#2)
- The Red Lion and Sun – Highgate (#6)
- The Bull & Last – Highgate (#10)
- Harwood Arms – Fulham (#14)
- The Baring – Islington (#17)
- Canton Arms – Stockwell (#22)
- The Clarence Tavern – Stoke Newington (#25)
- The Camberwell Arms – Camberwell (#38)
- The Drapers Arms – Islington (#40)
- The Eagle – Farringdon (#43)
- The Tamil Prince – Islington (#45)
The UK’s best gastropubs
If you don’t mind travelling, and you’re keen to try the best gastropubs in the UK these places took the top spots in the rankings.
- The Unruly Pig – Woodbridge, Suffolk
- The Devonshire – Soho, London
- The Star Inn – Harome, York
- Parkers Arms – Clitheroe, Lancashire
- The Mariners – Rock, Cornwall
- The Red Lion and Sun – Highgate, London
- The Three Horseshoes – Batcombe, Somerset
- The Sportsman – Seasalter, Kent
- The Cornish Arms – Tavistock, Devon
- The Bull & Last – Highgate, London
Read the full list of the Top 50 Gastropubs here.
