Texture on top as Harden's announces capital's winners and losers
Texture has come out on top of this year's Harden's guide to London's restaurant scene while the Ivy's grill and brasserie chain divided opinion and Jamie's Italian lost out once again.
Scandinavian-influenced modern European restaurant Texture picked up the highest food scores in the entire guide. Earlier this year, the Texture Restaurant Group put its three 28°-50° restaurants up for sale, which the guide claims has allowed Aggi Sverrisson to focus on the one-star flagship.
Other winners in the guide include Chez Bruce, which has held onto its title as the guide's favourite restaurant for a 14th year. It also climbed to second in the "top gastronomic experience" category, losing out to the Ledbury which retained first place as well as maintaining its number one spot in the "best for business" category.
Meanwhile Brat was the highest-rated newcomer in the guide, while the Harwood Arms nabbed the title as the city's top gastropub.
The guide, which is made up of a survey of 8,000 people contributing 50,000 reports, was also more than happy to deal out criticism. The Ivy Grills and Brasseries received poor ratings and claims that the "brand was being trashed" by "pretentious, unimaginative, chichi and average" imitations of the Ivy's prestigious offering. However, while it was ranked number one for "most disappointing cooking", it also ranked third for best breakfast/brunch.
Meanwhile Jamies Italian Group retained its triple-one ranking with a 1/5 score each for food, service and ambience. It was described by one reviewer as "awful, just awful".
