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Fans of pub/restaurant hybrids will no doubt be spilling their merlot with excitement, as the winners of the 2025 edition of the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs have just been announced.
In a ceremony yesterday (January 27) the highest ranking London gastropub was named as Soho’s The Devonshire. ‘The Dev’ took the number two slot, just behind The Unruly Pig in Bromeswell, Suffolk, which topped the list for the third time.
The Devonshire was also the highest new entry in the Top 50. The pub only opened in late 2023 but has quickly become one of London’s most-oversubscribed spots, known for serving lots and lots of Guinness (it’s also the first UK pub to sell Guinness 0.0 on draft) and a constant gaggle of young men outside smoking rollies and performatively wearing crossbody bags.
The Denman Street pub – which was home to a branch of Jamie’s Italian until 2019, when Jamie Oliver’s company went into administration – boasts an upstairs restaurant and grill room (as well as a fancy summer roof-top terrace) serving the old school likes of beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding, lamb hotpot, and Sunday roasts. Bookings currently open for tables three weeks in advance, and there’s something of a bun-fight for tables. It’s a little over-hyped for our tastes – you can find our nominations for the best gastropubs in London here.
Justice, we say for Hackney’s Prince Arthur, the French House’s in-house restaurant in Soho, Finsbury Park’s The Plimsoll and the Parakeet in Kentish Town, none of which made the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list.
Ten other London pubs did make the Top 50 though, with the Red Lion & Sun in Highgate at number six, the Bull & Last (also in Highgate), at number 10. London’s only Michelin starred pub, the Harwood Arms was at number 14, and the Baring in Islington was 17. South London’s Canton Arms was at 22, while Stoke Newington’s the Clarence was at 25, and Time Out favourite the Camberwell Arms was at 38. Islington’s the Drapers Arms came in at 40, Farringdon’s Eagle at 43, and Barnsbury desi gastropub the Tamil Prince placed 45th.
The awards were announced on Monday January 27 at Plaisterers’ Hall in the City of London.
London’s 50 best pubs for boozing, according to Time Out.
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