Best restaurants in Yorkshire 2026: Our food reviewers' top five fine dining restaurants in Yorkshire
Fresh from Yorkshire claiming a total of 10 Michelin stars at last month’s glitzy award ceremony, we’ve named our five top fine fining restaurants in the county.
As part of our Best Restaurants in Yorkshire 2026 launch, we asked our food reviewers to tell us the best restaurants they visited last year.
As well as checking out neighbourhood spots across the length and breadth of Yorkshire, we also tasked them with running their beady eyes over the fine dining establishments which have put Yorkshire on the culinary map in recent years.
But these aren’t stuffy restaurants where tasting menus seem to go on forever and style is chosen over substance - anything but.
These restaurants truly showcase the best Yorkshire has to offer. As well as supporting the regions farmers, growers and suppliers, they turn their produce into world-class dining experiences.
Here are the best five fine-dining restaurants our critics ate at in 2025.
Forge at Middleton Lodge - Restaurant of the Year
Our reviewer says: “It was easy to see why Michelin and the many diners here on a weekday evening loved it.
“I found it rare for a restaurant of this calibre, serving a tasting menu, to have the relaxed and engaging atmosphere as here at Forge; there was no stuffiness, and the service was still impeccable, warm and friendly, and even my constant questions must have driven them crazy when they were so busy.”
Jöro
22-24 Main Road, Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield S35 0LB
Our reviewer says: “You’ll just have to believe me when I say that what comes to the table is insanely good.The highlights, in no particular order: extraordinary presentation, Luke French’s precise approach to clean, intense flavours; he’s endlessly inventive.
“Actually, the best thing about Jöro is the feeling in the room: this level of cooking often demands a hushed reverence, having to sit up straight and whisper. There’s none of that malarkey here – it’s a happy, relaxed vibe which if they’ve any sense they’ll bottle.”
Hare Inn, Scawton, York YO7 2HG
Our reviewer says: “What intrigued me at my first visit to Pignut was the ‘wastage course’, based on the principle that, where possible, nothing is wasted in the kitchen. I've visited many other restaurants that have attempted a similar approach but haven't achieved the same success as Pignut at the Hare.
“For me, it's the combination of the pair that makes it unique — a synergy that is truly difficult to replicate. Plus, they have surrounded themselves with an astonishing array of local suppliers, and those further away, such as the wines chosen by Laurissa for their ethics and care.
Minster Road, Ripon, HG4 1QS
Our reviewer says: “Adam Jackson did not disappoint, far from it, he has not lost his touch, but rather it has grown, matured and is truly exceptional.
“However, as I teem praise on him, what he also does so, so well, is build a team of talent around him from Joseph the restaurant manager and Stef Devlin supervisor and sommelier both who are young and are brilliant; the chefs who delivered their food to the table already mentioned plus Joe and John and I am sure there are others.”
7 Scarcroft Road, York YO23 1ND
Our reviewer says: “If, like me, you’ve neglected Melton’s just because it’s been there forever, then I commend you to take another look. If you’ve never been, you’re in for a treat.
“Miller’s menu is more exciting and more refined than I remember but still with the Melton’s ethos created by Michael and Lucy Hjort, a modest couple without ego, who know how to welcome their guests, provide good food, good wine, decent portions in friendly, unfussy surroundings just as they’ve been doing for the last 35 years. Long may they continue.”