The four restaurants in and near Birmingham up for Good Food Guide awards - including 'smash hits'

The Good Food Guide Awards are to be held in just two weeks, a chance for the 'best of emerging and established excellence in British dining' to be honoured with soughtafter gong. This year, four restaurants in and around Birmingham are competing for top prizes, with two in the same category.

A 'glittering' ceremony is planned for Monday, February 3 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. TV host Richard Bacon will present on the night to a room filled with some of the best chefs in Britain.

One of Birmingham's own top chefs could add a new title to the many plaudits his restaurant has earned since it opened in 2018. Aktar Islam's Summer Row venue Opheem is in the running to be named Restaurant of the Year in one of the most hotly-contested categories.

Read more: West Midlands restaurant named 'most-loved' in Britain

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The Indian restaurant, which has two Michelin Stars, is up against the likes of London's The Ritz Restaurant for the prize. Each category, plus every nominee on each shortlist, is outlined below.

Other categories include the Most Beautiful Restaurant, in which six stunning dining rooms are up for the prize. Five of them are in the south of the country but one is right on our doorstep.

Grace and Savour, another of our region's Michelin Star venues, is up against restaurants in Berkshire, Hampshire and London to be named the most beautiful. After being shortlisted, the restaurant credited the nomination to the 'incredible British craftspeople' who worked on its space.

It told followers online: "Huge credit to the incredible British craftspeople who painstakingly created everything from our countertops, to our artwork, to our array of handmade chairs, plates and reclaimed tiles.

"Plus the stunning bathtubs and headboards in our garden suites - each dedicated to a different wood craft. All under the vision and guidance of @the_found_studio⁠, now brought to life by our team.⁠ It really does take a village.⁠"

Meanwhile, in the Best New Restaurant category, 'smash hit' new openings are being celebrated. Among them are The Wilderness' sister restaurant, Albatross Death Cult, Alex Claridge's seafood-led Jewellery Quarter kitchen that opened last June.

It is shortlisted alongside the Worcestershire spot that replaced Pensons the month before. Great British Menu chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes is at the helm at Native near the Malvern Hills.

The Good Food Guide Awards 2025 shortlist in full:

Restaurant of the Year sponsored by OpenTable

• Osip, Somerset

• Restaurant Jericho, Leicestershire

• St John (Smithfield), London

• Opheem, Birmingham

• The Ritz Restaurant, London

Best New Restaurant sponsored by Tripleseat

• Skof, Manchester

• Lyla, Edinburgh

• Briar, Somerset

• Row on 5, London

• Albatross Death Cult, Birmingham

• Native, Worcestershire

Drinks List of the Year sponsored by Richard Brendon

• KOL and Fonda, London

• Timberyard and Montrose, Edinburgh

• Osip, Somerset

• Cornus, London

Chef to Watch sponsored by Champagne Billecart-Salmon

• Jake Dolin - Manteca, London

• Elliot Hashtroudi - Camille, London

• Sam Lomas - Briar, Somerset

• Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson - Dongnae, Bristol

• Maria Close - Rockliffe Hall, County Durham

• Meedu Saad - Super8 Restaurants, London

• Philip Mcenaney and Katie Austin - Boath House, Nairn

Best Value Set Menu

• Josephine Bouchon, London

• The Palmerston, Edinburgh

• Dilsk, Brighton

• Pompette, Oxford

• Wilsons, Bristol

• The Devonshire, London

Most Beautiful Restaurant

• Grace and Savour, West Midlands

• The Dover, London

• Hearth, Hampshire

• The Park, London

• Woven by Adam Smith, Berkshire

• Wildflowers, London

The Russell Norman Award for Restaurateur of the Year

• David Carter, DCCO group

• Jason & Irha Atherton, The Social Company

• James Gummer, Olivier van Themsche and Phil Winser, Public House Group

• Guirong Wei, Master Wei, X’ian Impression, Dream X’ian

• Florence Mae Maglanoc, Maginhawa Group

• Dom Hamdy, Ham Group

• Jonathan MacDonald and Daniel Spurr, Scoop Restaurants