We're tired of the same old, same old restaurant awards - so three cheers for foodie title Olive magazine which has come up with an Alternative Restaurant Awards 2009 with categories that go beyond yawnsome fields such as Best Chef and Best Newcomer.
The magazine picked 50 winners in total (restaurants and chefs) in 34 categories which were decided and judged by a panel made up of the olive team and industry experts.
Our one reservation is the fact that they've picked hot-dinners.com's local Italian, 500, as their 'wish it was our local'. 500 is already impossible to book, and this latest nod means we'll never get a table there. Bah.
The full list of Olive's London winners:
Crunch bunch
Arbutus in Soho
Trinity
Gang stars (where you'd take a gang of friends to)
Cinnamon Kitchen
Le Bouchon Breton
Veggies’ paradise
Kastoori, Tooting
Ridiculously optimistic
Bob Bob Ricard, Soho
The world’s best-ever scotch egg (Runner up)
The Harwood Arms in Fulham, venison scotched egg, £2.50.
Wish it was our local
500
‘Well, hello, trolley’
Boundary
Meet the chef
Claude Bosi – Hibiscus
Aggi Sverrisson and Xavier Rousset – Texture
Most on-trend restaurant
Eastside Inn
Dining at the bar
Bocca Di Lupo
Best snack
Salisbury pub, Fulham
Your parents will love it
Corrigan’s Mayfair
Quo Vadis
Your parents will hate it
Gaucho’s
Chefs in new homes
Maria Elia, Whitechapel Gallery Dining Rooms
Cheaper than eating at home
Franco Manca
Guilty pleasure
Ikea’s hotdogs
Acceptable face of fusion
The Modern Pantry
Where the location’s the draw….
Restaurant at St. Paul's
….and where it doesn’t matter
Croque Gascon, Westfield
The biggest portion
Fox & Anchor
Don’t believe the hype
Buddha bar
Forbidden planet
Planet Hollywood
Craziest concept
Bel Canto
Olive magazine is on sale now.
