The best UK city for food and drink

Newcastle is the best city in the UK for restaurants, cafés and pubs according to our survey of almost 4,000 Which? members. 

It was the only one of over 50 of the best and worst UK city breaks to score five stars out of five for food and drink. 

It's a reminder that, if you want to eat well, you should head north. Bristol was the only large city south of Manchester to get four stars for food and drink.

London only mustered three stars while 12 cities and towns got four stars. Read on to discover what's special about Newcastle – and see some of the other highest rated destinations for foodies. 

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Newcastle

Newcastle is well-known for its nightlife, but also has great places to eat. Grainger Town, the historic commercial centre with its architecturally splendid Georgian buildings, is home to many excellent bars, pubs and restaurants. 

Foodies also head to Ouseburn – a few miles to the east – for hipster brunches and craft beer from Full Circle Brew Co and Brinkburn St Brewery among others. There are plenty of characterful pubs too, such as the Free Trade Inn, which has fine views of the Tyne.

Meander to the Quayside for buzzing bars and high-end restaurants, including the Michelin-starred House of Tides. Or step back in time at Blackfriars, which serves beautifully cooked game in a 13th-century monastery, and does a good-value set menu lunch (£23 for two courses).

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in Newcastle. 

Big cities that get four stars for food

Liverpool

Liverpool is the best large city in the UK for a short break, according to our overall survey, with top scores for its renowned cultural sights and tourist attractions. Its food scene has also exploded in recent years. There are excellent independent restaurants amid the scrubbed-up red-brick warehouses and museums at the Royal Albert Dock. 

One local favourite, Maray, has a branch of its hugely popular take on modern Middle Eastern food here. There's another branch on Bold Street in Ropewalks, where you can also find the traditional, and very good value, Maggie May's café, famous for its version of the meat and vegetable stew, Scouse.

Old warehouses and derelict buildings have been reborn as cool cafés, bars, music venues, galleries and independent shops in the Baltic Triangle. Order cocktails and street food at the Baltic Market in Cains Brewery Village. Duke Street Market food hall, housed in a handsome old building, is also a popular spot at weekends.

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in Liverpool. 

Edinburgh

In Scotland’s capital you’ll be able to savour a lot more than the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties – although that’s an option, too. Burn off a few calories as you hop from cosy cafés to classy cocktail bars in the city’s beautiful compact centre.

David Bann’s vegetarian restaurant in the Old Town is one of the best-value options, with a two-course set menu for £22.50, including lentil haggis as well as Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences.

Thistle Street in the New Town has a livelier scene and plenty of top picks, including snug Asian-influenced Noto, which is tucked away down a cobbled alley. Down the road, Scottish bistro Café St Honoré serves up locally sourced ingredients with style.

Don’t leave the city without visiting Edinburgh’s creative port district, Leith – with its fine dining, seafood bistros, quirky gastropubs and the city’s first wine café, Toast.

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in Edinburgh. 

York

This historic city with ancient walls and medieval heart has managed to squeeze in any number of quaint cafés and upmarket restaurants into its narrow, cobbled streets. The Food Court at Shambles Market has also become a destination in its own right for international street food.

It’s well worth venturing beyond the walls, too. Gillygate is home to two local favourites: stylish bistro Café No 8 and Love Cheese – a cheesemonger that dishes up toasties in its café. Overlooking the river, the Star Inn The City – which is accessed through a secret door in the city walls – specialises in game, terrines and parfaits.

Step back in time at traditional boozers such as The Blue Bell or The Phoenix Inn, or order coffee then a cocktail at the friendly Fossgate Social. You can learn about York’s sweet history, as the home of famous chocolate brands including Rowntrees and Terry's, at the Chocolate Story museum.

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in York. 

Glasgow

There’s an age-old rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with both jockeying to be Scotland’s fine-dining capital. Both scored high marks for food and drink.

Cool and unpretentious, Glasgow has a vibrant but inexpensive food and drink scene. In the trendy West End, cobbled backstreet Ashton Lane is full of charming restaurants, such as the Ubiquitous Chip serving fine Scottish fare. 

Finnieston’s Argyle Street is lined with serious coffee shops, gourmet sandwich joints and swish restaurants.

The Glasvegan on Enoch Square dishes up towering burgers and is just one of many meat-free cafés across the city.

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in Glasgow. 

Bristol

The only large city flying the flag for southern England, Bristol's neighbourhoods all have their own distinct flavours. St Mark's Road in Easton is known for its Middle Eastern and South Asian restaurants, St Pauls and Stokes Croft for Caribbean, while the centre has more independent bars and cafés than most other cities. 

Clifton, with its elegant Georgian townhouses and quirky cafés, is also worth visiting for a meal, with classic British cuisine epitomised by The Clifton gastropub, which was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand last year (Michelin's award for value as well as quality).

There's also one Michelin-starred restaurant – the Bulrush in Cotham – just north of the centre, where a seven-course lunch tasting menu is £48, not including drinks.

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Manchester

In the years before the pandemic Manchester saw an explosion of new restaurant, cafés and bar launches, with much higher growth than London.

The Northern Quarter, in particular, remains unrecognisable from the rundown place it used to be. The street-art adorned neighbourhood probably has more flat whites and craft beer per square mile than anywhere else in the UK – and more places have opened, even during the cost of living crisis.

Ancoats, a little further out, is even better for independent restaurants in the refurbished warehouses and red brick mills. There's only one Michelin-starred restaurant, the avant-garde Mana (ants and other ingredients foraged from the woods have featured on menus) but there's also comfort food such as Neapolitan pizza at Rudy's or Mediterranean-style small plates at the atmospheric, airy Counter House.

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Leeds

Google 'Foodie capital of the North' and it's Leeds that comes up first. It's not the only city to have used the title in its marketing but it does have a strong case – especially if you like street food.

Kirkgate, the biggest indoor market in Europe, has dozens of stalls ranging from Tunisian (Sweet Saeeda) to American vegan burgers and hot dogs (Fat Annie's) or Yorkshire puddings at the Yorkshire Wrap Company.

Its high dining restaurants feature innovative cooking you might expect to find in Madrid (Psycho Sandbar, the eccentric new avant-garde fish restaurant from Michael O'Hare who previously had a Michelin star in the same location as The Man Behind The Curtain) as well as more classical cuisine such as the Flat Iron steaks (£16) of The Cut and Craft.

Check with booking.com to easily compare and find accommodation deals in Leeds.

The best UK towns for food and drink

Some smaller cities and towns also get an impressive four stars for food and drink in our survey. Bath, Chester, Shrewsbury and Harrogate are all highly rated, as is tiny St Ives in Cornwall. You can see the full results in our guide to the best UK city breaks.

There are also many great places to eat in our survey of the best seaside towns.