West Berkshire restaurant voted into UK's top 100
'Very good week' as plans for guest accommodation also approved
A WEST Berkshire restaurant has been named as one of the best in the country by .
The Pot Kiln, in Frilsham, was listed in the newspaper’s prestigious ‘Top 100 Restaurants’ list in its monthly food magazine on Sunday.
The restaurant serves a variety of dishes, including wild game hunted by founding partner and celebrity chef Mike Robinson.
The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants does not rank the establishments in the list, but selects a winner for each of eight regions.
The list was compiled by a judging panel which includes columnist Jamie Oliver, Antonio Carluccio and Nick Jones.
The Pot Kiln was one of 11 restaurants to be recognised in the South East and one of two from Berkshire to be named, alongside Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray.
Founding partner Katie Robinson said: “It’s quite a prestigious thing to be in – to have something like this is a huge boost.”
Editor of Top 100 Restaurants, Laurel Ives, said: “The judging panel is made up of some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry, from chefs and owners, to our own expert writers.
“They have picked out the very best establishments that the UK’s impressive culinary scene has to offer.”
Mrs Robinson said it had been a very good week for the The Pot Kiln after its plans for guest accommodation were approved by West Berkshire Council.
She said that the Pot Kiln, like other pubs, had to look at alternative revenue streams with accommodation being an obvious choice.
And with pubs across the country closing at a fast rate, Mrs Robinson said: “It’s tough but we have been very lucky since we started in 2005. We have been very pleased with how it’s gone.”
Recognition from is the latest accolade for the Pot Kiln after it was ranked 46th in the top 50 gastropubs in the country in a guide published this year.
The pub was also placed sixth in the UK’s top 10 pubs by last year and also in a feature promoting pubs with the prettiest walks in Britain.
It also regularly appears in the CAMRA good pub guide.
The Pot Kiln’s plans, which have been approved, will see a storeroom demolished to build the four rooms.
The plans also include renovating and extending the kitchen and dining area along with expanding the number of car parking spaces.
Approving the plans, West Berkshire Council said that the guest bedrooms would “further enhance the site’s viability and benefit the wider rural economy and generate local employment”.
