The impossibly abstract themes. The bleeped expletives. And, of course, those mind-bending, edible works of art… No show gets our mouths watering quite like Great British Menu, where the nation’s best chefs go toe-to-toe for the chance to cook a classy banquet for Britain’s top brass. But you don’t need to be a dignitary or a judge to try their delicious grub – get yourself down to one of these spots, where GBM contestants helm the kitchen and wow diners with their off-camera creations.
Cail Bruich, Glasgow
We're not crabby about Cail Bruich's delicious food / Image: Clair Irwin
Series 14 had some stiff competition, but Scottish dab-hand Lorna McNee blew her rivals out of the water with a sunny, citrussy dessert that bagged her the title. Now the chef – who trained under Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Scotland’s only two-Michelin-star restaurant – is making big moves in Glasgow. She took over as head chef at French-ish West End institution Cail Bruich in September, and has been dazzling punters with her thoughtfully crafted nine-course tasting menu ever since. A night at Cail Bruich doesn’t come cheap, but the £90 splurge is more than justified by beautiful dishes like just-fished crab sprinkled with luxe caviar or fresh hand-rolled pasta dish in a gluggable Madeira sauce.
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Fenchurch, London
Dine with a 360 view of London's skyline at Fenchurch
Sitting pretty on top of the flat-topped Walkie Talkie building, the glass-walled Fenchurch overlooks both the jungly, 43rd-floor Sky Garden and twinkling London below – the perfect perch, then, from which to sample chef Michael Carr’s exalted food. The series 14 finalist took over the kitchen this summer after a stint at the Michelin-starred Box Tree in Yorkshire, and he’s put his own masterful stamp on the menu with outrageously flavourful dishes that spotlight seasonal British produce. The monkfish doused in seaweed butter is an umami bombshell, while the Scottish scallop and bacon jam starter comes dolloped with a green purée that somehow tastes more courgette-like than fresh veg. In other words: it’s a tasty spot.
