The best Michelin star restaurants outside of London

Foodies traditionally flock to London to check out the best new chefs and restaurateurs. But by doing so they’re missing a trick. The number of Michelin-starred establishments outside the capital has been growing rapidly and there are now 97 restaurants holding the coveted accolade dotted around the country – two of which have been awarded the maximum three stars.

In Cumbria, which has a population not much larger than the borough of Croydon, there are seven restaurants with Michelin stars to their name. Follow our guide to the best gastronomic experiences the rest of Britain has to offer.

The Red Lion, Wiltshire

A thatched cottage next to a babbling brook: The Red Lion looks as though it has been plucked straight out of the pages of Snow White – not the Michelin Guide. It has none of the white tablecloths and incomprehensible menus you’d expect from an haute cuisine establishment.

Instead it focuses on dishing out platefuls of great food that you would want to eat time and time again, from an incredibly moorish blue cheese and broccoli soup hiding sweet gems of pickled potato to a zingy lemon tart buckling under mountains of fluffy meringue and creme fraiche sorbet.