Signs that the battered London restaurant sector is recovering from the recession are revealed by an influential new guide on Monday which reports "a dramatic rise" in openings in the capital over the past 12 months.
The findings are published in the 2013 London edition of Zagat, the "burgundy bible" and restaurant guide which claims to be most comprehensive survey yet.
It notes that after numerous closures forced by economic gloom, the revival has been sparked by a trend away from formal fine dining towards value-for-money eating out.
Popular but notoriously expensive restaurants such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's are rated highly for making their food affordable through fixed price lunches.
While The Wolseley has been voted the most popular in London, the Knightsbridge-based Dinner entered the top 10 most popular restaurants at number nine. A meal here featuring the chef's trademark molecular gastronomy – including his legendary meat fruit – will give you little change out of £100. The guide admits: "The cost is substantial, but odd as it may be to say it's good value considering you won't get this experience anywhere else." It hails the fixed price lunch as "a stunning bargain".
Others in top ten include Hakkasan at number two, followed by stalwarts Le Gavroche, The Ivy, RiverCafe, Ledbury, Gordon Ramsay, J Sheekey and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's in tenth spot.
With a record 1,995 restaurants rated and reviewed by another record 9,583 surveyors – diners who submit reviews – this is Zagat's biggest survey of London's culinary scene. Its participants sampled 1.1m meals over the past year – nearly 3,000 a day – rating them on food, decor, service and cost.
Among the restaurant openings in the last year are high-profile newcomers such as Pitt Cue Co, Dabbous, Pizarro, Burger & Lobster and Cut at 45 Park Lane, which have all made their mark by achieving very high ratings soon after opening.
Pitt Cue Co and Burger & Lobster are among the many American-inspired debuts and carnivores' delights – the former a Soho-based restaurant of "serious BBQ meat action" and the latter with no formal menu and just one price for – of course – a burger or toothsome lobster with fries.
Many more openings are due this autumn, including big names from New York – Balthazar, La Esquina, STK and Standard Grill.
Other high profile debuts include The Delaunay and Brasserie Zedel – opened by the restaurateurs behind The Wolseley.
Among other pedigreed premieres from British chefs are Mark Hix's Hix Belgravia and Tramshed, and Jamie Oliver's Union Jacks.
The high standard of food and service offered by the 62 "notable new entrants" has led 40% of the guide's reviewers to claim that the quality of the capital's culinary scene is higher than it was a year ago., while only 3% said that it had got worseOn a 30-point scale, London is rated overall 25 for culinary diversity, 22 for creativity, 14 for hospitality and only 13 for table availability
Zagat – which began modestly in New York 33 years ago – was acquired by Google last September. Co-founder Tim Zagat said the new ownership would lead to Zagat being further expanded to cover reviews of restaurants in the whole of the UK: "This is a tremendously exciting time for us and we look forward to getting more people involved in reviewing beyond the London area. There is a lot to report. As this year's guide shows, people no longer care about fancy white tablecloths and crystal when it comes to eating out. There are some fabulous new restaurants out there – many of which started out doing street food – serving fantastic food at a great price."
Despite the ongoing economic downturn and the squeeze on spending, diners say they are spending 30% more in the capital's restaurants this year than last. But they are still eating out an average of 2.2 times a week – the same as last year and well below the rates in New York, Paris and Tokyo, which run from 3 to 4 times a week.
When it comes to what Londoners want to eat, the flavour of the year goes to Italian cuisine (25%) followed by French (17%) and Japanese (14%). Ironically, Londoners rate French restaurants more highly than Italian but they eat far more frequently in Italian establishments. But there's a thumbs-down for British cusine, with only 1 in 10 diners naming it as their favourite.
The Thames Wharf-based River Cafe co-founded by Ruth Rogers and the late Rose Gray this year celebrates its 25th anniversary and was hailed for its "daily changing Italian fare".
Chains are also included and the survey identified Japanese noodle bar Wagamama as the public's favourite multi-unit restaurant group.
Most popular: 1. Wolseley (1) 2. Hakkasan (7) 3. Le Gavroche (9) 4. Ivy (5) 5. River Cafe (11) 6. Ledbury (10) 7. Gordon Ramsay/68 Royal Hospital Rd(2) 8. J. Sheekey (3) 9. Dinner by Heston (-) 10. Gordon Ramsay/Claridge's (6)
(position in brackets is last year's)
