Two chippies make Good Food Guide 2020 best budget eats

Fish and chip restaurants Colmans in South Shields and The Magpie Cafe in Whitby are among 24 seafood eateries to make The Waitrose Good Food Guide (GFG) 2020 best budget eats.

The annual guide, which sees L’Enclume in Cumbria take the number one spot in its 50 Top fine dining restaurants, also champions local eateries, small chains, simple restaurants and cafés that deliver freshly cooked, delicious food at great value for money. 

Published today, the guide features more than 350 restaurants, nearly a third of its restaurant selection, which offer diners a three-course dinner (excluding drinks) for £30 or under.

Colmans and The Magpie Cafe are featured alongside seafood restaurants such as Rick Stein's Fish, Falmouth, Riley's Fish Shack, Tyne & Wear, and Dory's of Margate in Kent, all of which are descried as offering distinctive, customer-focused experience, great choice and most of all, value for money.

Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide by Waitrose & Partners, comments: “Seven decades of publication have given The Good Food Guide a unique insight into eating out in Britain. And the more we conduct our lives online, the more we look for care, provenance and thoughtfulness – especially when it comes to food. With diners increasingly looking for flexible eating options and value for money, there has been a surge in inexpensive cafés and restaurants that rank quality of ingredients above all else. Small, owner-run dining rooms across the country provide clear examples of how they can and do work in direct opposition to the pizza-burger overload on the British high street.”

The guide also highlights two emerging trends, the first being the number of restaurants introducing dynamic pricing, whereby different amounts are charged for the same dining experience to encourage people to book when demand is typically lower.

The GFG features several restaurants doing this to help spread demand across the week. For example, Soho restaurant Bob Bob Ricard has a peak and off-peak system which means it’s around 20% cheaper to eat at lunch time, as well as at dinner on Sundays and Mondays, than on other days of the week. 

The second trend is the growing number of restaurants ditching a no-booking policy. Hip bistro 10 Greek Street in Soho now takes reservations at lunch and dinner while holding back several tables for walk-ins. Soho favourite Pastaio operates a virtual queueing system so diners don’t have to stand outside in all weathers and you can even skip the line at Padella in London’s Borough Market by using the WalkIn app. 

The seafood restaurants to feature in The Waitrose Good Food Guide 2020 best budget eateries are:

Fishers Leith, Edinburgh

Rick Stein's Fish, Falmouth, Cornwall

Rick Stein's Café, Padstow, Cornwall

Fresh from the Sea, Port Isaac, Cornwall

Porthgwidden Beach Café, St Ives, Cornwall

The Oyster Shac, Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon

Hive Beach Café, Burton Bradstock, Dorset

West Mersea Oyster Bar, West Mersea, Essex

Ee-Usk, Oban, Highlands & Islands

The Boathouse, Isle of Ulva, Highlands & Islands

Hantverk & Found, Margate, Kent

Dory's of Margate, Margate, Kent

Wells Crab House, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk

Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast, Co Antrim

Harry's Shack, Portstewart, Londonderry

The Shed, Porthgain, South-West Wales

The Aldeburgh Market, Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Sole Bay Fish Company, Southwold, Suffolk

The Urchin, Hove, Sussex

Colmans, Ocean Road, South Shields, Tyne & Wear

Riley's Fish Shack, Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear

Latimer's Seafood, Whitburn, Tyne & Wear

Clam & Cork, Doncaster, Yorkshire

The Magpie Café, Whitby, Yorkshire