Five London restaurants were among the winners at the recent British Restaurant Awards.

The awards ceremony, now in its fifth year, was held at Porchester Hall in Bayswater last night, Wednesday, September 6 to celebrate some of the best establishments and players in hospitality.

The ceremony was presented by TV’s Cait King and guest presenters Paris Smith from Made in Chelsea and Olympic champ Dwain Chambers.

More than 20 awards were handed out last night, covering best regional restaurants, chefs and bars.

London had five winners, including Mayfair’s Bocconcino which took out Best Luxury Restaurant 2023.

Found at the glamorous Berkley Square address, the Italian restaurant’s menu covers the breadth of Italian cuisine in a glitzy setting. Although the restaurant says it takes its ques from traditional trattorias, the swanky dining room is anything but.

The restaurant also hosts live music on the lower ground floor level, and will be opening a second site in Soho soon.

London-centric Thai chain Thai Square won Best Hospitality Team and Best International Cuisine. With eight restaurants scattered across London, and another two in St Albans and Windsor.

Menus differ slightly from restaurant to restaurant, but expect the salty sweet taste of the likes of soft shell crab, duck curry, green curry, tom yum soups and a stack of plant based options too.

Covent Garden’s Happy Bar + Grill won Best Restaurant in London and Best Culinary Experience. This franchise, with more than 40 sites across Europe serves up an extensive menu of crowd pleasers, from sushi and burgers to salads and something called a cheese burger roll.

Camden’s Chamisse won Best Take Away. The Lebanese restaurant and grill on Grey’s Inn Road serves up all the smoky, charred flavours you would expect, covering grilled meats and vegetables and mezze also.

Lastly, Argentinian steak house group Gaucho won Best Restaurant Chain. With eleven restaurants in London and a 12th on the way, and a further eight dotted around the UK, Gaucho has as selection of cuts to choose from and burgers, as well as much lighter dishes also.

For the full list of this year’s winners at the British Restaurant Awards, visit britishrestaurantawards.org