The UK is home to some marvellous places to eat, but you might not think so after looking at a list of the most legendary restaurants in the world.
That’s because only one UK eatery made it onto a list of the top 100, and it’s not even really a restaurant, it’s a café.
E Pellicci on Bethnal Green Road in London came in at number 83 in the rankings. The art deco café, founded in 1900 by Priamo Pellicci as a workers café, serves up a mix of Italian food and English classics like fry-ups, ham, egg and chips, and steak pie, as well as pasta dishes like lasagne.
While some might find it a random choice for the list, being picked over award-winning Michelin Star restaurants, the spot is somewhat of a cult favourite in the capital, and is also rather popular with celebrities.
Everyone from Friends star David Schwimmer, to Frank Lampard and Michael Gambon have been known to eat there over the years.
As well as being a hit with celebs, the café has thousands of rave reviews online, with Google reviewers hailing it as ‘10/10’ and ‘incredible’.
A user known only as Donté F gave it five stars, saying: ‘I couldn’t have enjoyed this restaurant any more than I did. The English breakfast was phenomenal, very fresh! However the food wasn’t the best part. It was the staff and management. Just so friendly with everyone and merry! I know why people keep coming back day after day, for years and years. I will have to visit everytime I’m in London.’
Similarly, Tina BQ Tran wrote: ‘If you want a solid breakfast, this is the place to have it. Based on the food quantity we saw while waiting in line, we ordered 3 different items for 4 persons. It turned out to be more than enough. The service was excellent. Although we didn’t ask, they gave us a 4th empty plate so we could share the food. Although everything was good, the hash browns were our favourite.’
And Emil Alakbarov posted: ‘Best of the best of the best! Legendary place for legendary breakfast in London. Absolutely in love with the team and food. Gonna come back again and again!’
For those curious, the number one spot on the list went to Figlmüller, a Viennese restaurant in Austria, famed for its Schnitzel.
This was followed by iconic pizza spot L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples, and Hofbräuhaus München in Munich, Germany which sells classic dishes like pork knuckle, liver dumplings, sauerkraut and soups.
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The top 10 was rounded out by Gino e Toto Sorbillo in Naples, Paragon Restaurant in Kozhikode, Café de Tacuba in Mexico City, Peter Cat in Kolkata, Katz’s Delicatessen, Karne Garibaldi Santa Tere in Guadalajara, and El Pimpi in Málaga.
This comes after the UK also failed to make it into a list of the top 50 best cities in the world for food.
London, which is regularly touted as one of the best cities in the world, and is home to some incredible restaurants, didn’t feature until much further down the list at number 90.
And surprisingly, it was the only spot in the UK that managed to make it into the top 100 of the TasteAtlas Awards 2024/25.
It likely won’t come as a shock that Italy dominated the top 10, as the country is famous for its food, with an abundance of delicious pasta, pizza, meats, cheeses, wine and more.
Naples was crowned the world’s best city for food, with Milan following closely behind in second place and Bologna in third. Florence was fourth, Rome in sixth place, and Turin in ninth.
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